


Collide

by suzannahbee123



Series: SlayerSoldier Series [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Awkward Flirting, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, some small violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 18:45:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15802395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suzannahbee123/pseuds/suzannahbee123
Summary: Alice Winters is a Vampire Slayer on the run from her past. Bucky Barnes is in hiding after the events of CA: TWS looking for his future. What happens when their world Collide?





	1. Chapter 1

Alice Winters never meant to end up in New York, but magic could be funny that way. She was warned that travelling between dimensions wasn’t an exact science but she was in too much of a hurry to listen, so, New York was now home. 

 

New York was proving to be much bigger than Alice could ever had anticipated, if she had ever bothered to think about before. Of course this shouldn’t have worried her, she wanted to hide and a place as big and busy as Brooklyn was perfect for that. However, her work had somehow managed to follow her here and it was almost impossible to keep up. 

 

The fact was, she needed to find a way to, she could pretend that it wasn’t happening, hope that some of these “super heroes” would catch wind of the problem and take care of it for her. Unfortunately, that wasn’t her style, Alice had been a Vampire Slayer for 12 years, it was no one else’s job to kill them. 

 

When she had arrived in the dead of night in the middle of a park (and thank God for that, portals were not subtle and she needed to avoid questions) all she had wanted was to take the cash she had grabbed back from the Council, find a secure place to crash and hide away and forget about the previous 12 years. 

 

Within 2 weeks of her finding somewhere to stay however, the dreams started. Dreams where New York drowned in blood and the people in it became demons. Dreams where the death and blood spread to the rest of America and eventually the world, no one knew what the vampires were so they couldn't kill them. 

 

Then there were the memories that pushed their way into the dreams, memories where her life had gone from nightly patrolling in London and fighting the good fight to being caged and locked in a room- 

 

_ Enough _ Alice told herself,  _ you have more important things to worry about. _

 

The first type of dreams were clearly premonitions, which she was actively trying to deal with. 

 

The memories would hopefully fade if she could manage the first. 

 

The third dream that she kept on having was a bit more difficult however. Alice dreamed of blue eyes in a face she couldn’t quite make out. These dreams were…quiet and calm and made her feel safe. That’s the only way she could describe them. But the  _ feelings  _ these dreams awoke in her…she felt like she would raze cities to the ground to protect and keep safe whom ever those eyes belonged to. 

 

Those dreams always made her inexplicably sad when she awoke so, along with the trauma of the nightmares, she was glad that Slayers didn’t need to sleep as much as other humans. 

 

It was 7.00AM, the sun had come up about 10 minutes ago and Alice was trying to decide if she should carry on patrolling, try and find a nest to destroy, or if she should go home and try and catch up on some rest. She was sat down on a bench, just staring into space when she noticed a man on the other side of the road. From this distance she couldn’t make him out too clearly, just what he was wearing which was jeans, dark coloured jacket and a black baseball cap. 

 

The thing that had caught Alice’s attention was that he had been pacing back and forth for at least 5 minutes, the road wasn’t that busy just yet so he could’ve crossed at any point but he was just kept on pacing with his head hung low. 

 

He wasn’t a vampire, apart from the fact that the sun was up, Alice wasn’t getting that sense from him. When vampires were nearby it felt like there were eyes on the back of her neck, that skin crawling feeling when someone glares at you behind your back. 

 

This guy wasn’t inciting that response in her however so she just kept staring into space. 

 

She should be getting up and getting on with her day but this stranger kept on drawing her eye. She was just about to get up and move on when suddenly the man decided to step  into the road. The only problem was a Mack truck barreling down the road at speed. 

The trucks horns blared and it's breaks squealed, it wasn’t going to be able to stop in time. 

 

Before she could think through the consequences, Alice was running as fast as she could down the path. At the last moment she leaped over the roof of a parked car, across the middle of the road and collided with the man knocking him back and down onto the path just as the truck barrelled past them blaring it’s horns. 

 

Alice found herself laying against a body much bigger than hers and staring into…a pair of bright blue eyes…they were the same eyes from her dreams. 

 

This thought barely registered however. Alice could hear people beginning to make their way over to them, she could already hear some comments 

 

“Did you see that?” 

 

“Almost as fast as Captain America..” 

 

“And that jump?!” 

 

Anger and frustration boiled up in her, before she could think it through she looked down at the stranger and hissed out “Oh, you  _ idiot _ !” 

 

He looked shocked, but only for a moment, his face was a mask of fury the next second. “Get OFF of me!” Was his furious response. 

 

Alice scrambled up and took a look around, there was only 3 people there luckily. “Hey, you guys okay? What the hell were you playing at?” One of the men asked belligerently.

 

Hoping that a trick that worked back at home wouldn’t fail her here Alice went into damage control “Sorry folks! Just me and my brother here trying to film a prank for YouTube, didn’t go quite right as dumbass here can’t take direction!” 

 

Alice linked her arm through the strangers left arm as she said this and squeezed to get him to take a hint. He looked down at her (God, there were times she hated being short) and mumbled something that sounded like “well if you were a better director…” and kept his face as hidden as possible. 

 

Glancing at the small crowd, Alice smiled and saw the crowd frown. At 5 foot 3 inches and with black hair and green eyes, she did not look a thing like the stranger, but people tended to believe what they wanted. Sure enough, the crowd grumbled about reckless endangerment and began to disperse. 

 

Good old gullibility. 

 

When they were alone Alice let go of his arm and spun to face him. Before she could yell at him like she (really) wanted to he spoke up "Why did you do that?! HOW did you do that?!”

 

“What?!” She snapped back “save your life?! God only knows, and what do you mean how?”

 

“You were too far away, there was no way that you should have been able to get to me in time, and how the fuck did you jump that high?!” 

 

Alice took a breath before she answered, she had had experience in getting someone to forget what they had seen and was going to use every trick in the book now. "What do you mean? I was already crossing the road, I didn’t see the truck until the last minute then luckily for you, I ran out of the way and crashed into you so it didn't take you out too. Adrenaline really gives you wings, am I right?” 

 

Alice was calmer now that they were both safe and no one was paying attention to them and was actually looking at him now. He stood at 6 feet tall at least and was broad in the shoulders. He definitely had the eyes from her dreams though, she must have dreamt about him so she could save his life. 

Why he should be so important she was getting prophetic dreams about him she didn’t know but she didn’t need the complication of finding out. 

 

“Look” Alice said “You weren't looking at what you were doing and nearly got splattered. You should be thanking me not giving me a hard time.” 

 

The stranger glared at her for a moment longer before looking curious, “What’s your name? And how  _ did _ you do that? I’m not buying the adrenaline story.” 

 

Alice stepped back. “I’m no one and I can’t do anything. Take care of yourself okay?” 

 

Before he could respond Alice turned in the other direction and walked away before he could stop her.

 

Alice didn’t stop until she got to her apartment and had locked all the doors and windows. Alice had realised as she held onto them, that his left arm and hand were not just firm, it was solid. 

 

His whole arm was metal. 

 

She thought back to the days after her arrival, there had been some attacks in Washington and they had been attributed to The Winter Soldier, some assassin who had been around for forever and had killed dozens of people. The news channels had shown what pictures they could of him, one defining feature that was in every picture? 

 

His left arm was metal. 

 

Alice had just saved the assassins life. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A certain Super Soldier comes calling on Alice, the throwing of butter knives ensue.

If Alice had somehow managed to save the life of an infamous assassin back home, Maggie would have firstly, glared at her over the top of her glasses followed swiftly by the sage advice of “Well, call the police, give them his last location and get on with your training for heaven’s sake. You're not going to live forever, you don't have time to be worrying about every last wrongdoer in the world!”

 

It might've sounded harsh and callous but Maggie, her Watcher, had kept her alive for as long as she had been a Slayer. 

 

Maggie had taken one look at her on her first day at the Council training facility, looked her up and down, pursed her lips and just said “Hmmmm”.

 

Clearly Alice was not expected to respond, Maggie told her to follow her and that was that. 

 

Vampire Slayer and Watcher until death do us part.

 

Maggie had been a Watcher since she was 25, she had originally been a Potential but had never been Chosen so she had much more knowledge than the other average Watchers that strutted through the halls.

 

Alice had grown to respect the older woman so much, Maggie just wanted her to stay alive, she wasn't motherly in the least but Alice was in no doubt that she would have died a good few years earlier if she had been paired with someone else.

 

Certainly, Alice would never had been allowed to be so stupid as to get herself trapped, captured and used as a lab rat for the previous 2 years if Maggie had still been alive.

 

Too wired to sleep and too distracted to be of any use patrolling, Alice sat down on the sofa and pulled her laptop towards her.

 

When she first realised that there were Vampires nearby, Vampires who should not exist any more than she should in this dimension, she got herself set up with portable wifi so she could do some research.

 

Something strange happened when she went online though. Back home, when she needed to find information on a subject that was not going to be covered correctly by the press she would go to a website run by a conspiracy theorist who called himself the White Oracle (stupid name but who was she to judge?).

 

Demons and the Slayers who hunted them were a bit of an urban legend at home, people knew they existed but didn't talk about it unless it was in whispers or after a few drinks. The White Oracle somehow had information about that world and when deaths and disappearances were attributed to things like gangs and drugs and other stuff like that, if they were reported on at all, Oracle would immediately post more accurate information. This had helped Alice and other Slayers more times than she count.

 

When she started her research here, without thinking she had logged onto that same website. It shouldn't have been there, this was a different plane of existence for God's sake. But there it was, it was even reporting on conspiracy theories, the only difference was that instead of stories about Vampire attacks, demon sightings and rogue Slayers, there were stories about Hydra agents in SHIELD (whatever that was) and other stories about if the alien attacks in New York were caused by a relation of one of the Avengers.

 

Alice couldn't explain why this happened and didn't want to think too hard about what that meant but she would use the resources that she had ruthlessly. 

 

In the last few hours since she had got back, she couldn't shake the feeling that The Winter Soldier was not something as simple as a cold blooded murderer. 

 

It was dumb but she had learned to trust her gut in certain things and her gut was telling her that she needed to know more about the stranger she saved this morning, if he was the Winter Soldier, she would need as many weapons as possible.

 

Alice logged onto the website and began to read what she could find. 

 

A few hours later and Alice had learned quite a bit. According to the Oracle, the Winter Soldier was injected with the same serum that created Captain America, he had been active since World War 2 and he had been active for so long because he was cryogenically frozen in between missions. 

 

A very recent post caught her attention the most however, someone had managed to get a photo of the assassin after he had fought with Steve Rogers in DC on the street. This photo was uploaded next to another photo from during the war of a Sergeant James Barnes. And guess what?

 

They were the exact same person.

 

Furiously, Alice stood up and began pacing. If it was James Barnes then that led to all sorts of horrible thoughts about how he had ended up where he was now. What reports there were about him from that time all say the same, he was a model soldier and was best friends with Captain America.

 

Someone like that would not willingly switch sides and start killing for over 70 years.

 

That he was captured was more likely, which meant that he had been forced, probably with unending torture, to kill for them. And Sergeant Barnes would have been listed as dead, no one would have been looking for him and therefore, not known to help him.

 

And now he was out? On the run? Was he better? Was he still a killer? And why was she dreaming about him? 

 

God, she wished Maggie were still around.

 

***

 

A few hours later, Alice was stood in her small kitchen over the sink. She had done some more research, both on this bloody stranger who may or may not be a mass murderer coming to kill her and on where she should be hunting next. 

 

Alice was stood with her head bent watching the tap slowly drip contemplating everything that she had read over the last few hours when the noise behind her came. It was small but it was enough to have her spinning around and throwing the nearest knife at the source.

 

The knife went straight for the face of the man brazenly stood in her kitchen and would have found it's mark, if he hadn't ducked his head and put up his left arm at the last moment so that the knife bounced off it harmlessly.

 

Alice didn't stop though, before he could recover Alice moved across the room and pushed him into the wall behind him, she then moved back to the sink and picked up the nearest butcher knife and stood with it pointed at him.

 

“Explain. Now”

 

James Barnes stared at her incredulously “You threw a butter knife at me?”

 

Alice gave her best death stare, adjusted her grip on the knife and waited.

 

“I wanted to talk to you and you probably wouldn't answer the door if I just knocked.” 

 

“Oh, so you think it's okay to break in? I could've had a gun.”

 

“You wouldn't have gotten off a shot before I would have ripped it out of your hands” he looked slightly unsure at that though.

 

Locking gazes with him, Alice took a breath. And another. 

 

“No, you’re probably right, I hate guns so I wouldn't have a clue how to use one let alone keep a hold of one in a fight” 

 

James Barnes just stared at her. 

 

“I'm going to put the knife away now okay?”

 

“You shouldn't, I could be here to kill you, why would you trust me?”

 

“It's me I trust, not you” Alice snapped.

 

Huffing out a breath Alice looked skyward before meeting his eyes again, “Look, I'm sorry for snapping, why are you here though? How did you even find me? Did you follow me?”

 

“I just wanted to explain. And to say thank you, for helping me. And to ask why you would bother?  I didn't follow you, exactly. I just…tracked you down.”

 

“Well that doesn't sound creepy at all” Alice remarked with a roll of her eyes.

 

“Why aren't you scared of me?!” Barnes said with a yell “Everyone is scared of me.”

 

“Do you want me to be scared of you? Because I have faced bigger and badder than you and they actually  _ wanted  _ to kill me so please don't try and act like you are something scary special”

 

“What? Who has-“

 

“Nothing!”  _ Stop spilling your secrets to a bloody stranger, Alice!  _

 

Before he could start that line of questioning again Alice continued “I accept your thanks for this morning and your unspoken apology for breaking into where I live”

 

There was an awkward pause so Alice spoke up again “You can go now. I'm not going to say anything”

 

“You didn't answer my question”

 

Alice was starting to get frustrated now, “Which one?”

 

“Why did you help me? I did see you, you ran faster than you should be able to just to help me, you don't know me, why risk yourself like that?”

 

“I already told you it was adrenaline-“

 

“I don't believe that”

 

“Well, with all due respect, what do I care if you believe me?” Alice just wanted him to go, he was a blue eyed distraction that she really couldn't afford to have. Now or ever.

 

Barnes looked as frustrated as Alice felt and for some reason she didn't want to see him upset.

 

“Okay, fine, I'm a bit stronger and faster than your average woman. Or man for that matter. And I went out of my way to help you because you were someone that clearly needed help and…I don't know why, but I….I couldn't just let you get hurt.”

 

Alice couldn't meet his eyes as she said this, she barely understood her reaction, she didn't want to try and understand his. She snuck a glance at him from under her lashes when the silence dragged.

 

Barnes looked down. He made a move as if to leave but before he did he turned back and asked “What is your name? You never answered that question either”

 

“Tell me yours first.”

 

Barnes frowned and opened his mouth to answer but before he could Alice interrupted 

 

“Tell me your real name and I’ll tell you mine?”

 

Alice could see his jaw clenching on the side of his face for a moment before he answered “My name is James Buchanan Barnes. My….friend…used to call me Bucky”

 

“Bucky? Really?”

 

Bucky just smiled at that and shrugged.

 

“Well. Nice to meet you Bucky, my name is Alice Winters”

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so they've met, will things go smoothly? Ha!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We meet our first vampire in this chapter. Just to be clear, the vamps are of the same kind as mentioned in Buffy, so wooden stakes, sunlight, fire, ect, to kill them. The rules from Buffy apply to this universe except for the one small difference of that there was always more than one Slayer in Alice's world.

Alice and Bucky stood in her kitchen for a moment longer. “So…you can go Bucky.”

 

“Aren't you worried about me coming back? I'm assuming that you have some idea about who I am, you weren't surprised when I said my name.”

 

Alice leant back against the counter before saying “Well no, I recognised you earlier…or well, I recognised your arm. I looked you up online.”

 

“Then how can you be so calm around me? I am not a good person Alice, I've killed people!”

 

Alice slammed her hand against the counter “Yeah and you had to be tortured and broken repeatedly, so much so that you couldn't even remember your own name let alone the morals you would've had!” Breathing hard, Alice stilled and saw that Bucky’s face had drained of colour and he was looking absolutely furious.  _ Oh crap. _

 

Bucky stepped up to her and growled in her face “How the hell do you know that?” Before she could answer he grabbed her upper arms and slammed her back into the counter “HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?!”

 

Alice’s training kicked in a few seconds too late but when it did… She twisted her left arm from his flesh hand and used the momentum from pulling him downwards to use her, now free, arm to force him back down onto the kitchen floor.

 

Alice put her face right into Bucky’s and said “I know I can't get my arm out of this metal hand without doing serious damage to it, and I have to go to work in a couple of hours. Now let go. Or I’ll have to make you, and you don't want that mate, trust me.”

 

Alice was furious with herself, this was exactly what she had been trying to avoid. She should have kicked Bucky out as soon as she saw him stood in her kitchen, or better yet, called the bloody police after she left him stood in the street this morning. 

 

But when he had started talking, she hadn't felt fear that someone as dangerous as him was in her flat and she wasn't angry that he had “tracked her down”, she had just felt like she needed to…keep him there, no one knew who she was, he could be safe. Those feelings didn't make any sense so she had tried to push him out.

 

Now look what had happened because she couldn't control her emotions? The worlds most wanted man was staring up at her in shock and not a small amount of anger,  _ after she had taken him out like it was nothing.  _ Fuck.

 

Bucky clenched his jaw. Narrowing his eyes, he slowly let go of her arm. When he did, Alice couldn't control her wince, that grip was  _ hard. _

 

Alice slowly got back up and, on shaky legs, moved back to the counter. Bucky leapt to his feet and turned away. Alice made to move to him, she didn't know what she was going to say but before she could arrange her thoughts into a coherent pattern Bucky turned to her “I don't know who the fuck you are or how you can manage what you just did-“

 

“Bucky-“ 

 

“Don't call me that!…what you found out about me? That information stays in your head, do you hear me? I hear even a whisper of that information anywhere and I  _ will  _ come for you, do you understand me? And  _ you  _ won't want that, I wouldn't even need to get close. Trust me”

 

“I'm not your enemy Bu- um..James. I won't tell anyone about what I know, but I want you to know…I don't blame you for what you did. I know you won't care but I do know what torture can do to someone and, well, the people that did that to you? Who took your life from you?  _ They're  _ the monsters.”

 

Barnes just looked at her. 

 

“Yeah. You're right. I don't  care.” He moved back towards the hall, before he left he turned back “I shouldn't have come here. I'm sorry if I hurt your arm. I won't be back.”

 

“Bucky? I, uh, mean James?” Alice couldn't just let him go. She should, of course, just watch him leave and then get back to concentrating on cleaning up he mess that she had made but, her head wouldn't get its act together and listen to her. “Just…take care of yourself okay?” 

 

Barnes gave a very small nod, then he turned around and walked out of her flat.

 

~~~~~

 

An hour before sunset had Alice leaving where she lived and heading out into town for patrolling. She liked to leave early and try and figure where the vamps were staying, hopefully she could get to a nest and take out loads in one go.

 

Generally she walked around and tried to sense where the highest concentration of them were, the stronger the being watched feeling, the more amount of vamps there would be.

Alice either walked, used the bus or got the train or subway. She would prefer a cab but 1) too expensive and 2) those drivers scared her more than half the demons she had ever faced.

 

Alice used to be fine with large crowds, hell, London was one of the busiest places in the world, she had had to be. 

Since she had gotten out of that “lab” Alice just couldn't adjust to the crowds, she was constantly fighting the urge to attack anyone when they pressed in too close. It hurt her so much, she was only there for 2 years, why did it affect her so badly? She was a Slayer for Gods sake….she was stronger than this.

 

Unfortunately, crowds were where the vamps hunted so Alice forced herself through it. And kicking the crap out of something before it could kill anyone? Definitely had its own benefits for her sanity. Cheaper than therapy too.

 

As Alice was wondering around, keeping her head down, she let her senses take the reins. 

 

Just before midnight Alice got her first hit. Literally. 

 

Someone (something?) smacked her on the side of the head and then dragged her into an alleyway as she stumbled and was off her balance and threw her up against the wall.

 

“Ow! What the hell?! What's going on?!” Alice made her voice sound as panicked as possible and let her eyes do that darting around in terror thing. Sure enough the vamp in front of her started to smile, clearly he thought that she was just easy prey. 

 

That he was a vampire wasn't in any doubt, he had his demon face on display, he must be new to this new state of being, new ones didn't have the control over their faces so they tended to stick to dark alleyway hunting and sneaking up on their victims. Once they could control the change and use their human faces they became  _ much  _ more dangerous.

 

_ Oh well,  _ Alice thought,  _ in a few minutes there will be one less to worry about. _

 

“Pretty, pretty” the vamp started to move closer to her, “I'm going to enjoy feeding from yo-“

 

The idiot moved within striking distance so Alice grabbed the front of his shirt and switched their positions so he was slammed against the wall. Alice reached for her stake, hidden within a pocket in her jacket and raised it above her shoulder, she made to plunge it into his sternum but before she could the vamp spoke up “Hey hey hey! I'm sorry for the whole, threatening to kill you thing, how about you put that… is that a stick? Put that stick away! Come on lady, let's just forget about this and get on with our lives!” He was waving his arms about trying to dislodge the grip that she had on his shirt but, Alice wasn't budging.

 

Regarding him through angry eyes Alice spat at him “Do you feel alive though? Can't feel your heart beating. Don't you find it odd that you have no appetite for anything other than blood?”

 

“Well..no. See, the guy that met me when I woke up-“

 

“Who?! Who met you? Was he the same one that killed you?”

 

Alice pulled him towards her before shoving him back into the wall as she said this,  _ please  _ Alice thought,  _ please don't drag this out, I just want a name. Please just help me clean up this mess. _

 

Alice didn't want to hurt him, but she couldn't let him go either. It wasn't his fault what had happened to him but if he had information about where the rest of them were then she  _ had  _ to find out.

 

“I don't know his name! He just came and told me what I was and what I needed to do to stay alive, didn't seem like a big deal to me” he said this with a shrug at the end.

 

Alice let out a small growl, no matter how many times she has it thrown in her face that they lost all humanity after they died, she couldn't help but find it hard to reconcile. 

 

This guy was young looking, he probably had family in the city who were still grieving for him. And he would kill them as easily as other people would step on bugs.

 

“Where the hell is he?! Tell me what you know and I will let you go, I promise.”

 

The vamps face spasmed and suddenly Alice was looking in the face a young man, he couldn't have been more than 20. He had the clean cut looks of someone who had known nothing but close knit family and home cooked meals everyday. 

 

“I know you, girl”

 

“What?” Alice's grip tightened on his shirt.

 

“He told me about you. Said you would come for all of us, one by one, never stopping.” 

 

“Who? What was his name?”

 

“Said that you are stronger than any other woman, or man. You come from the same place that he did.” 

 

“Please, just tell me this guys name, I will let you go okay? This wasn't your fault, you don't have to stay like this.”

 

The vamp narrowed his eyes “He said that it was your fault.”

 

Alice's grip loosened on his shirt, she could hear the blood pumping in her ears.  _ Not my fault. NOT my fault. Couldn't have known. How could I have known?  _ Alice's thoughts jumped around faster than she could keep up.

 

Sensing the weakness, the vamp launched himself at her, his face switching back to demon in the blink of an eye. 

Alice stumbled but managed to stay upright, whilst she was off her balance, the vamp threw a punch that had Alice spinning. 

 

The vamp followed by knocking the stake out of her hand, and whilst she was facing the other way, grabbed her by the hair and pulling her up against him. He then pulled her head to the side, exposing her neck to him “I was hoping that I would get the chance to kill -“

 

His words abruptly came to a halt when Alice used a series of moves that had him flipped over her shoulder and flat on his back in about 2 seconds.

 

Feeling furious, Alice grabbed the second stake that she had from the small holster that was on her back. “Here is some advice for you, if you manage to get an easy kill on a Slayer, take it and stop talking” Alice followed this up by  _ finally,  _ staking him. She looked him in the eyes as he exploded into dust.

 

Alice just sat there for a moment, she had always  _ hated  _ knowing that so many people died every day, Maggie had made it so clear however that not only was there only so much a Slayer  _ could  _ do, there was only so much a Slayer  _ should  _ do. 

 

Their world existed on a balance, neither good or evil could ever completely take over. It meant that all the Slayers in all the world could save 1000 people in one night but there would be as many, if not more, who would die by a vampire or demons hand. Not even counting what humans were capable of doing to each other.

 

Alice hated that but could deal with it, theirs was a war that had been fought for millennia before she became a Slayer and would continue to be fought now that she was not there.

 

The only problem was, she came here, to a completely different dimension, to escape being a Slayer. She didn't tell anyone what she was doing, they all thought she was dead for the past 2 years anyway. 

 

So how did vampires get here? She had checked everywhere, there were no stories of those creatures here, no legends, they couldn't have been here first.

 

The only thing that made sense was that they had followed her here. Which did make it her fault.

 

So Alice sighed, dusted herself off and got up. And carried on with the patrol.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wandering Super Soldier returns and is given a choice...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This opens up on a nightmare/memory of Alice's which gives a small bit of background into her past. It could be triggering for some so please read with caution.

_ Darkness. Blissful darkness. Alice could sleep now. Alice wanted so desperately to sleep. _

 

_ SCREEEECH! SCREEECH!! _

 

_ Too loud.  _

 

_ Bright lights. Blinding. Alice snapped back to awareness. _

 

_ Heart pounding, not enough air.  _

 

_ “Does the subject consent to testing?” _

 

_ “NO! My name is Alice!” _

 

_ “Let the records show that the subject has withheld consent to testing and adjust data accordingly.” _

 

_ “Wait! Why are you doing this?” _

 

_ “Reduce the subjects water rations by half and we will return to subject in 8 days” _

 

_ “No! Come back!” _

 

Alice woke up. Her heart was thumping and she was drenched in sweat. A scream was trapped in her throat and her joints were locked so she couldn't move which just added to her panic. This had happened a lot recently though so Alice had learned just to breathe through it.

 

After a minute her limbs started working again and Alice snapped up in to a sitting position and shakily moved her hair back from her face. Looking at her watch she saw that she had only been asleep for 2 and a half hours.

 

Groaning, Alice fell back to the pillows “Just one nights, or days sleep, is that  _ really  _ too much to ask?” Alice asked ceiling. Glaring when it didn't answer she got out of bed and headed to the shower.

 

After patrolling the night before, and killing 3 more vamps she was pleased to add, Alice had been  planning on doing some more sweeps for nests but her vision had suddenly gone blurry and her hands had become too shaky to be manageable so, home to “sleep” it was.

 

After Alice had finished showering and brushing her teeth, she went back to her room and moved her bed to the side, there were 3 false floorboards under her bed that she had put to good use.

 

Inside was the bag that she brought with her when she came here. Inside had been £10,000 in cash and some items from the Council offices which were definitely worth more money, they were artefacts from an old demon dimension that apparently some Slayers had visited 100 years previously to help settle a civil war, these “priceless” items were a thank you gift from the King of that area.

 

Five Slayers had died for a war that wasn't even theirs but the Council thought that was “fair collateral” for the gaining of political allies and the huge monetary gain. After all, 5 Slayers would replace them so, no harm no foul.

 

Politics.

 

There were hundreds of other such items stashed all over the place, but the ugly jewel encrusted golden orbs were the easiest to get to and not too heavily guarded. Also, they were easy to transport as they weren't too big. Alice just walked in, beat up the guards and grabbed them.

 

Alice didn't  _ have  _ to beat the guards up of course but she had been through a bit too much at the hands of The Council, she was hardly at her most rational.

 

As it was the orbs looked as expensive as they actually were, she was keeping them to sell when she needed the cash. Alice had about half of her cash left, she changed up £5000 to dollars as soon as the currency exchange opened and used it to get the flat that she was in now, the rest had gone on food and the internet that she had been using. Alice also had quite high food bills, Slayers needed a lot of calories okay? 

 

Alice would eventually need to get a job but in order to do that she would need ID that said she actually existed. The only reason she had got where she lived without legal proof of ID was because she gave that huge lump of cash to the lady renting the place. Alice also told her that her name was Jane Smith, the old lady didn't seem to care too much that it was clearly a lie, the money was real enough.

Alice was contemplating how best to do a search for illegal fake ID manufacturers online when there was a knock at her door.

Alice sprang up to her feet and grabbed the nearest stake and got up.

Alice made her way slowly towards the door, she didn't think it was a vampire but no one else knew about her. Unless..

 

“Alice? Alice are you there? Could you open the door?”

 

_ Bucky.  _ Alice had thought about Bucky non stop since he had left, but he said he wouldn't be back. And why should he be? Alice had not been particularly nice to him when he had turned up before, what with the knife throwing and smashing him into the floor. Oh, and dredging up awful memories and acting like she had the first clue about what he had been through.

 

Alice moved forwards to the door and opened it abruptly “Get in quick before someone hears you!” Alice grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him inside.

“What are you doing here? You could have been seen! You  _ might _ have been seen!”

Bucky held up his hand and Alice stopped, he sighed and looked and her before running his hands through his hair in frustration “I do care” was all he said after a moment of silence.

“What? About what? Care about what?!” Alice hissed out.

“You said you knew what it was like to be tortured and I said that I didn't care? Remember?”

 

Alice couldn't help but just stare at him, he seemed completely confused by his own feelings. Didn't come close to how Alice felt though, she was far too happy to see him and far too desperate for him to go. There was also that irritating certainty that he should stay so he could be safe and he, in turn, would help her be safe. Alice had never wanted someone else to keep her safe before, it wasn't that she didn't think anyone else could do it, it was more that no one else had ever tried apart from Maggie (and look where that had gotten her?) or to a certain extent, other Slayers. 

 

Alice struggled to get her thoughts in order and spotted something that scrambled them even further “What's that?”

“What? This?” Bucky held up what looked suspiciously like the stake that she had dropped the night before, and forgot to pick up.  _ Alice, you bloody stupid idiot. _

_ “ _ I'm not sure I was hoping you could tell me seeing as you were the one to drop it?”

“Never seen anything like that in my life, looks like a tiny wooden spear to me. Wasn't me that you saw.” Alice shrugged. 

“Look, I was angry when I left yesterday and tried to track you down and-”

“Again tracking me down? Why, for heavens sake?”

“You're different, apart from being really strong for a girl your size, you helped me when you didn't have to and didn't call the cops.”

Closing her eyes and rolling her head on her shoulders to try and ease the tension there, Alice moved back towards the kitchen, when Bucky didn't follow her she called over her shoulder “Are you coming in or what?”

 

Bucky slowly followed her through, Alice was pacing the kitchen when he got in. After a few minutes of pacing Alice looked up and said “Would you like a drink?”

Bucky did a double take at that “Um. Yeah sure, thank you”

Alice grabbed a glass and poured him some water before setting it on the side next to him.

“Okay, look, that tiny stick  _ is _ mine, but I can't tell you why. I do know what it's like to be tortured but I'm not going to talk about it. Yes, I am strong and fast and all that jazz but it's not something that I can talk about.”

Bucky blinked at that “Okay”

Alice frowned suddenly “Wait, you said you saw me drop it?”

“Yes” Bucky drew the syllable out. 

“And what else did you see?” 

“Some guy hitting you, and I nearly stepped in to help but, well you looked like you had it under control.”

Alice's hands started to shake “And? Anything else?”

Bucky paused and looked at the floor “Yeah, it looked like you stabbed a guy in the chest and he turned to dust.”

Alice really wanted to go down the whole, no it was just a trick of light thing that she would have done back home, but the fact that he said it so calmly, and that he hadn't called the police on  _ her,  _ stopped her. Hands still shaky Alice followed up “Why didn't you freak out? You just saw me kill someone, surely the next reasonable step is to panic and scream or something?”

“Maybe I should have? I don't know…just, when I saw the look on your face when he said that it was your fault? You looked like…well I see that same look on my face every time I wake up and I look in the mirror. Also, people don't just explode, I figured that there would be some explanation.” This was followed by a shrug.

Alice shook her head trying to clear it “Yeah but that wasn't your fault James, you had no control.”

With a haunted look in his eye, Bucky replied softly “Those people are still dead, I still see myself killing them. Knowing that I was not in control doesn't actually help. It makes it worse.” 

 

Alice sighed as Bucky turned away towards to counter and bowed his head. 

“The first time I saw a vampire, I screamed and tried to run away. But then I tripped and fell. Then when it came at me again? I managed to fall over again and it landed on me funny so I accidentally staked it. Then, after it exploded on me, I threw up. Then my Watcher smacked my face because I was becoming “hysterical”” Alice said the last bit with an exaggerated version of her own accent and rolled her eyes.

After a pause where Bucky closed his mouth “What's a vampire?”

“The reason why I am so strong. They are deadly demons that I have to fight to protect mankind”

Alice really didn't want to have to tell him this. But who was she kidding? He had seen her kill one, hadn't panicked and also hadn't tried to stop her. Which would have gotten him involved and, probably, hurt. 

“Is this a new thing? I never heard of these things before.”

Alice considered what to say next. She didn't want to lie but she really didn't want to go into what really had happened. “My Council sent me here when they got wind of Vampires trying to set up shop in a new dimension. Myself and vampires aren't from here, they tried to escape and I have to stop them. It's as simple and as complicated as that really.” 

_ Okay, apparently you are going with lying. Way to go Alice.  _ It was close enough to the truth but, it was already starting to feel uncomfortable, Alice couldn't meet Bucky's eyes as she reeled off the rambling speech.

Bucky looked sceptical at that. “Okay, well I just came to give you back your stake and to see how you were. And to thank you again for helping me.”

As Bucky started to turn around to leave Alice blurted “Where are you staying? I mean, you can't exactly be in a hotel right?” 

“Well no, I'm kind of staying in this house with a bunch of other guys.”

Alice frowned “Are you squatting? That's not on.”

“Yeah well, as you said, I can hardly stay in a hotel can I? I need to lay low and staying there is completely inconspicuous.”

_ Don'tsayitDon’tsayitDon’tsayitDon’tsayit “ _ Do you want to say here?” Alice nearly yelled at Bucky. There was an awkward pause before Bucky began with “Are you serious?”

_ Well, in for a penny, in for a pound,  _ Alice told herself “Yeah, I am deadly serious. No one would know to look for you here so you could be safe, I have a spare room so you can have your privacy.”

The shocked look on his face was almost funny, as he opened his mouth to reply Alice cut him off “Look, I am not trying to be some stupid bimbo here. I know you're dangerous, and that I probably seem crazy to even offer this to you but as you have already been witness to, I can take you out if it comes to that. And, more importantly, I..trust you not to hurt me. I don't know why, but I do so, there it is.”

 

The worlds most deadly assassin looked absolutely stumped for a moment before suddenly announcing “I broke into here yesterday! There! See? I am not a suitable room mate.”

“Oh for heavens sake..yeah you did, the locks are piss poor so don't think that it's impressive, also, the fact that you could get in without my invitation makes you more trustworthy rather than less.”

Bucky looked so torn, Alice could see the confusion and hope warring for dominance on his face. And fear. He looked absolutely terrified.

“Bucky? Look at me. Please?”

As he slowly looked into Alice's eyes Alice felt her heart clench “I mean it when I say that you can be safe here, you can regroup and try to figure out what your next step is. I want to help keep you safe, I promise there is no ulterior motive here.”

“Why? Why would a good person like you…ever want to help a  _ monster  _ like me?” 

The look on Bucky's face was heart breaking so Alice gave it her last shot “I know what monsters look like Bucky, sometimes they look like a creature from a horror film, other times they wear human faces. I have fought them everyday since I was 15. I know what they look like, and you are  _ not  _ one of them. I also know that sometimes it's the people with souls who are the biggest monster and you have been a victim of them. And so have I.”

Bucky looked up at that and Alice forced herself to maintain eye contact even though she wanted to run.

Bucky sighed and ran his hand through his hair again before meeting her eyes again. “Okay. When can I move in?”

 

Bucky left not long after that to go and get what small possessions he had, Alice then promptly smacked her forehead against the nearest wall “Bloody hell, what have I done?” 

There was no point denying that she felt so much more at ease knowing that he was safe however, even if it was an epic waste of time. If, somehow, she managed to find someone that could do suitable fake ID’s, it's not like there was anything she could do about that arm of his. It was quite distinctive. Never mind also that she was hardly ever going to be here because, you know, killing a never ending army of  _ fucking vampires! _

Getting stressed was also, an epic waste of time.  _ She  _ had invited Bucky,  _ she  _ had caused the vampires to follow her so  _ SHE  _ would just have to get on and kill all the vampires, keep Bucky safe and (Alice looked at her watch) go and get a crap load of food from the supermarket before he got back because, no doubt, he required even more calories than Alice did.

On that happy note, Alice grabbed her jacket and a stake (you never know) and slammed her way out into the street.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let some awkward moments and protectiveness commence...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, another nightmare, but this time it's at the end of the chapter. This one involves injections so please read with caution if this is triggering for you.

The next few weeks went by fairly uneventfully, Alice and Bucky got into a sort of routine, Alice would come in after a nights patrolling and they would have breakfast together. A lot of talking went on, mainly about the past 70 years history, this was quite fun as Bucky learned about all the things that he had missed and Alice tried to find differences between what had happened here and what had happened at home (bizarrely there wasn't really anything, Alice guessed that her world was maybe 5 years behind in technology but everything else was more or less the same). 

Alice also gave him a much fuller account of the history of Slayers and the Council that she worked for. 

 

They spent time learning more about The Avengers, Bucky seemed to be really proud of what Captain America had accomplished but this, inevitably, led to him becoming agitated and upset “The last time I saw him, I nearly killed him Alice, I shot him and beat him half to death. How can I ever expect him to forgive me?” Bucky was pacing across the living room floor running his hands through his hair over and over, something that he did when he was stressed. 

Alice walked over and put her hands over his and moved them back to his sides “Stop that or you'll go bald, and I'm sorry, but I don't think you could pull that look off Barnes” Alice said this with a smile to soften the words “One day you'll see him again and, from everything that I have learned about him and what he stands for, he will be the first person to give you a second chance. Apart from anything else, you were his best friend, basically brothers right? They fight all the time don't they?” Barnes smiled at that. “You are the last link to his past Bucky, he is going to want to have you back in his life.” As Alice finished that sentence she realised that she still held on to Bucky's hands and had moved a half a step closer to him. Bucky looked down at her and Alice dropped his hands. “Okay! I'm making a snack! You want one too?” Alice scurried off to the kitchen before he could say anything else. 

 

Alice could feel herself becoming more and more drawn to him, he was kind and funny and didn't push her to talk about all the strange stuff that she did, he also didn't make her listen to everything that had happened to him. They both had this unspoken agreement that their lives before they had ended up together were off limits. At least for now.

 

Alice had never had an actual boyfriend before, yeah she had  _ dated  _ but the men back home couldn't be told about who she was and they always seemed to sense that there was a power imbalance and couldn't wrap their heads around it. 

Other Slayers had maintained long term relationships with normal guys, others had fallen for Watchers or some of the more humanoid demons from other dimensions that worked for the good guys. 

Slayers often fell in love with each other too, it worked, they had each others backs, understood the stresses and fears that came with the job and there wasn't any issues about who was stronger and whom would protect whom from harm. The only problem was, they lived on a knifes edge, Alice supposed it would be like being married to a police officer or soldier in the war, the phone call could come at any time.

Alice had seen it happen. Every Slayers death hurt, but it was unavoidable in their line of work.

 

Alice knew she could very easily fall in love with James Barnes, he was everything that she had ever wanted in a guy and the fact that he was at least as strong as her? Maybe stronger? It shouldn't make him more attractive but, well, it did. 

Trying to busy herself making a snack,  _ You need sleep more than food, idiot,  _ Alice tried to make a list in her mind of all the places in Brooklyn that she had tracked vamps to. Anything to stop her from thinking about stupid Bucky and his stupid, gorgeous face.  _ Not working though, is it?  _ Alice rolled her eyes at the irritating voice in her head,  _ You need sleep more than you need food. Imagine, coming back here and letting Bucky hold you, sleeping the whole night in those arms of his.. _

_ “ _ Alice?” 

Jumping about a foot in the air and spinning around with the butter knife raised above her head, Alice glared at the offending man. “What?!”

“I was calling you, you didn't answer and I got worried.” He was looking very sceptically at the knife in her hand, still raised because her adrenaline had spiked and wouldn't let her body catch up with her brain “I guess I needn't have worried, that sandwich looks like you already killed it.”

Looking down Alice saw the sandwich looked horrendous, bread was uneven, the ham and salad were falling out the sides and the butter she had been using came out of the fridge so instead of trying to warm it up a bit before spreading she had just used it to attack the bread so there were gaping holes in it. 

Lowering her arm and forcing her hand to open and drop the blasted knife, Alice looked at Bucky “Yeah, um sorry, the bread started it. Look, do you want this? I'm not hungry all of a sudden.”

“Yeah sure. I've eaten worse than that.” Alice cringed, it did look so awful “No! I mean, well I'm sure it tastes great.”

Forcing out a laugh Alice started moving towards her bedroom “Well if you really don't want it, I won't be offended honestly. I'm going to go research in my room okay? Watch a film or something yeah?”

“Are you okay Alice? You look really pale.”

_ I haven't slept more than 5 hours in the last 3 weeks, no I am NOT okay,  _ Alice wanted to yell. “Just a bit tired I guess.” 

“Well why not have the night off? Give yourself one day, it won't kill you.”

The stress and worry that she had been trying to keep at bay suddenly caught up with her and she snapped “Ha! Because it could kill someone else that's why! Because no one else can do what I can do, that's why! Because I am all alone doing this and  _ I don't know how to stop it getting worse!” _ The last words were said on a yell.

Cocking his head to the side Bucky regarded Alice, “When was the last time you slept?

“No. Not important.” Alice slashed her hand through the air to emphasise how  _ not  _ important it was.

“It was a week ago, and that wasn't for very long.”

Alice was getting agitated now “Slayers don't need as much sleep -”

“That's bullshit” Bucky walked right over to her and grabbed her upper arms in a gentle grip “Go. And. Sleep.”

“I need to find out where to look next-“

“No! You need to sleep.” Bucky held up a hand when Alice opened her mouth to argue “Go and sleep, I will research where you should go next, I will wake you up just before sundown.” Alice tried to argue one more time “But-“

“Sleep. Now. You are no good to anyone if you are so sleep deprived you get yourself killed.” 

 

Alice gazed up at him, he was determined and she found that she really couldn't find it in her to argue anymore. And you never know, maybe she could sleep and not have anymore memories of the lab interrupt her sleep? That would be nice.

“Okay! Fine! But you wake me up in” Alice checked her watch “5 hours okay? Or I will kick your arse Barnes, don't think I won't.”

“6 hours, got it.” Bucky replied happily.

_ Ugh,  _ Alice thought,  _ well..at least he was nice about it. _

With that, Alice marched herself into her bedroom and fell asleep in about 30 seconds.

 

_ “Does the subject consent to the injection” _

_ Always the same questions.  _

_ “No.”  _

_ Always the same answer. _

_ “Let the records show the subject has withheld consent and adjust the data accordingly” _

_ So long. Alice had been here so long now. Given up all hope of getting out. Just the tests now. _

_ The doctor came towards her with the needle, Alice couldn't see his face, he wore a mask and googles and he always wore full surgical scrubs. There were others too but they never spoke. Only him. _

_ The needle came to her arm. No idea what was in there, poison again? Another virus or other disease? No idea. _

_ The doctor depressed the syringe.  _

_ Alice waited.  _

_ Agony shot through her whole body within seconds, it was fire, it was broken glass, it was acid in her veins. Poison then. _

_ Alice screamed until she could taste blood.  _

 

Eyes shooting open Alice blinked back the tears that were coursing down her face. She waited for her limbs to work and tried to keep her breathing even, Bucky's hearing was exceptional, he would hear if it changed.

Within 30 seconds she could move again and she sat up, looked at her watch. 6 hours, not bad.

 

Trying to shake off the memories, Alice rolled out of bed.  _ Let the memories be Alice,  _ the voice told her,  _ they're just memories, you're not there anymore and you need to get your head straight before hunting again. _

The voice was a pain about most things but in this it was right, the memories were just that, memories. Nothing could change what had happened to her. But Alice was more than capable of changing what could happen to the innocent people that lived here. She was a Slayer, always. Everything, and everyone else had to come second.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being mean to a Super Soldier and then waking them up... not a good idea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Liiiitle bit of angst here. Also a little bit of violence with knives.

“Hey, how are you feeling? I was just about to come and wake you” Bucky stood up as Alice entered the room. 

“Yeah fine, thanks for the push to sleep” rushing around trying to find her favourite stake and getting her discreet holsters attached Alice didn't look at Bucky, she needed to keep this resolve in place, she wouldn't turn him away or kick him out, not ever. Alice would be his friend but she couldn't allow herself to get closer, too dependent. It was too dangerous.

Frowning ever so slightly Bucky went to the laptop and started “Well I had a look and I think that you should start with -”

Alice walked over and grabbed the laptop from him “Oh yeah, I see. I'll start there and work my way out. There has to be a nest nearby, surely?” The last bit was said more to herself, she didn't notice Bucky's face falling slightly at her interruption.

“Do you want me to come with you?”

That got her attention “What do you mean? You're not a Slayer.”  _ Oh smooth Alice. _

_ “ _ No, obviously not. But I can fight. Being a man doesn't stop me from being able to fight Alice” Bucky was clearly trying to joke but there was an edge to his voice that Alice didn't notice, she was too busy thinking there was  _ no way  _ Bucky was coming out with her.

“Yeah, funny.” Alice paused “No.” she started to move towards the door.

“What? You can't just- I'm worried about you Alice! The more I learn about this, the more I think you're in over your head and -”

“Excuse me?! You think I'm in over my head? I've been doing this since I was 15! I couldn't be a bigger expert!”

“You are going to get yourself killed! And then what happens? Huh? Answer me Alice!”

Absolutely furious but not able to articulate why exactly Alice shot back without thinking it through “Fuck you Bucky! When I want the advice of an ex murderer I'll ask you okay? Until then just…keep your mouth shut!”

Bucky's face went white “What? Why..” He looked absolutely crushed.

Still riding the wave of this inexplicable fury Alive continued “Look, I'm sorry. You know I don't think that about you. But the rest of the world still does, so..so you need to stay here and stay out of the way and I'll be back in the morning.”

Storming out the flat Alice made her way towards the city centre “I mean, who does he think he is? I'm a Slayer, I can handle this. Worried about  _ me?!  _ I’m worried about him! He's not ready to be going out in the world yet!” Alice carried on grumbling but her anger faded the further she got away from home.  _ You are such a bitch, you’re just angry because you want him and you can't have him. Try not to die tonight Alice, you need to apologise. _ Suddenly feeling like she wanted to cry, and she hadn't done that since her parents died, Alice carried on. She would get her work done and talk to Bucky when she got home, try and explain herself a bit better. Hopefully he would forgive her.

Making that promise to herself, Alice got into Slayer mode, and went hunting.

 

30 minutes before daybreak had Alice heading back home. She managed to bag 4 more vamps but there was something off... usually vamps  _ were  _ solitary hunters but when they were new they tended to stick with their sire, however every single one that Alice had dusted so far had been on it's own. So far they had all mentioned the same, that a male vampire from her world had made them.

More worryingly, she  _ still  _ couldn't catch wind of where they were nesting. If they all knew their sire, then logically they must be nesting together. Alice couldn't figure it out and it was causing her to panic, taking a few out here and there didn't seem to make any difference, if she couldn't stop them at the source, it would get beyond her control. 

 

Alice got home and immediately started looking for Bucky, she found him in the living room sleeping on the sofa, a local news station was on in the background,  _ See Alice? He cares enough to keep track of he news, he’s trying to watch out for you even when you turn him away. You're lucky that he didn't bloody leave.  _ The voice was right again. Deciding not to wake him and make him some pancakes instead (she was willing to grovel if she had to but maybe his favourite would work just as well) Alice was about to turn towards to kitchen when Bucky started to grumble in his sleep “Bucky?” Alice moved closer to him to make out what he was saying.

“No. Please stop. Don't.”

Simultaneously, Alice's heart cracked in two and the blackest rage she had ever felt started to boil up inside of her  _ He was dreaming about HYDRA. The monsters that  _ hurt  _ him! _

Alice knelt down next him and, without thinking about possible repercussions, grabbed Bucky's shoulders and gently tried to wake him up “James! It's just a dream, it's oka-”

Suddenly Bucky lurched forward, his eyes were wild and unfocused, he grabbed ahold of Alice and threw her to the floor. As Alice landed on her back he reared over her holding one of her knives from the kitchen (not a butter knife unfortunately) raised it over his head and plunged it towards her face. 

Alice's reflexes managed to keep up, and grabbed his wrist, he was too strong to stop all together though so she just changed the trajectory and got the knife away from her face and it plunged into the floor next to her left arm. Following up, Alice threw Bucky off of her so he landed against the wall on her left.

Alice scrambled to a sitting position, “Bucky?! I'm so sorry!”

Bucky moved and he started groaning “What the..”

Alice moved over to him and grabbed his face and brought it up to her eye level “Alice what are you doing? What's happened…” his voice trailed off as he saw the knife embedded in the floor a few feet away.

Eyes clearing, Bucky abruptly stood up “Did I do that?! I fell asleep didn't I? I was waiting for you to get back, I wanted to talk to you and… oh my God, Alice!” Bucky stilled as he looked down at her and then lower when he saw her arm.

Also scrabbling to her feet, Alice started babbling “I'm so sorry about earlier Bucky! Just stay still a minute would you?!” Bucky had started grabbing at her arm but Alice had spotted a small trickle of blood coming from his hair line “Bucky, I hurt you! Stay still I need to check it!”

“No! I hurt you! Look at your arm!”

“Well would you look at that..” Alice murmured, obviously she hadn't got the knife completely out of the way, there was a small gash on the upper part of her arm, Alice couldn't even feel it so it wasn't bad. Head wounds, however, could cause concussion and brain damage and then death though so..."Forget my arm! Let me look at your head you idiot!”

“Don't call me an idiot! I nearly killed you!” 

“BUCKY!” Breathing hard, Alice put her hands up to his face and held him, “I’m hardier than I look remember? In fact, it looks like I've done more damage to you. Please let me fix that cut, then you can fix mine okay? Then, breakfast because I'm starving.”

 

Once in the tiny bathroom, Bucky stayed still as Alice cleaned up his cut. The adrenaline from his nightmare attack had gone and he looked exhausted, the tension in the room was becoming unbearable too. Bucky hadn't talked since Alice had shouted at him, he was just alternating between glaring at her, glaring at her arm then glaring at himself in the mirror that was behind her.

Alice was feeling tension too but not all of it was because she knew she had to apologise and give a better explanation for why she had been such a bitch earlier. In order for both of them to fit in the bathroom she had had to sit up on the counter and Bucky was looming over her, he was big enough to block out everything else, all she could see was him.

“There. All done.” Alice couldn't even look at him, she had been so out of order, called him a murderer, talked to him like a child, and  _ then,  _ if you please, she had thrown him into a wall like a common vampire when all he had been trying to do was protect himself during a nightmare. She was a bitch, she was a horrible, horrible person, she didn't deserve for him to forgive her…

“Alice?”

“Hmm?” His voice was so gentle, why wasn't he yelling at her? 

“Alice, I need to clean your arm.”

“Oh. Yeah. It's fine don't worry about it.” Alice made to jump down from the counter but before she could Bucky moved in front of her and grabbed her hand “Alice?” Keeping her head down, Alice felt that goddamn lump in her throat again, before she could start bawling like a child Alice threw off her jacket so he could get to the cut and tossed the jacket over his shoulder, like a spoiled teenager.  _ God Damn it woman, no wonder you've been single so long. _

Squeezing her eyes shut Alice waited for him to start cleaning the cut but he didn't do anything but hold her hand.

“Alice…what happened earlier?” 

Sighing Alice forced herself to look at him, and lost the air in her lungs. This close she could see how blue grey his eyes were, they were stunning and completely held her captive. As someone who had been legitimately held in such a state, this should have panicked her but she felt….calm and safe. So she told him.

“I don't know what to say Bucky. I've never felt dependent on anyone. And to be honest, I have never had anyone actually care about what happens to me. As a Slayer I mean. I..lost it because I couldn't handle it. I'm so sorry that I said what I said.” Alice looked into his eyes as she said the last part, she had been a coward once before, she was never  _ ever  _ doing that again.

Bucky stared at her for a long moment, Alice kept the eye contact up, she wanted desperately for him to forgive her but, well, she could hardly blame him if he didn't. If he left. 

Finally, Bucky nodded “I forgive you Alice. But don't say that again okay? I…need someone on my side. I want  _ you  _ on my side.”

As he looked down and started cleaning the small amount of blood on her arm, Alice whispered “I am. Always.”

After a moment, Bucky looked up again and frowned seemingly confused at something.

“What about Maggie?”

Now Alice was confused “What about her?”

“She was your trainer right? Wouldn't she care about what happened to you?”

Smiling ruefully Alice replied “Firstly, it's Watcher, not trainer. Secondly, I was just a talking weapon to Maggie and the rest of the Council. Don’t get me wrong, they take great care of their weapons, gave us all the information we needed before going out, kept us well trained and fed and gave us somewhere to sleep and everything but ultimately, we were replaceable, like any other weapon. One Slayer dies, another is called.” Alice tried not to let the resentment show but it was hard. Being a Slayer was dangerous and terrifying and even though you didn't stay a Slayer because you expected medals and rewards..the knowledge that you  _ were  _ so easily discarded hurt. 

Bucky started to look furious again “They called you that?! Nothing but a  _ weapon?!” _

Seeing where this was heading Alice started to shake her head, "No, Bucky, it's not the same thing like with you, it's-”

“It is NOT different, they used you! You were a child! At least I was a grown ass man! They just expect girls to give up their whole lives for some  _ war?!  _ Force powers on them that they didn't want-”

“The Council don't control that! That's some other force! They don't even understand it, how it works or why it chooses who it chooses! And they offer you a choice to stay or they can give you pills that suppress your powers to take for the rest of your life.”

Running his hands through his hair, and actually tugging on it this time, Bucky started to yell but he winced when he pulled the cut from earlier.

Grabbing his hands, alarmed that he hurt himself again, Alice carried on “Bucky, please, becoming a Slayer might not have been my choice but staying one  _ was _ .”

“You  _ chose  _ to stay?! You chose to stay a weapon for a bunch of old men and women who don't care if you live or die?”

“It's a fight worth fighting Bucky-”

“ _ WHAT?!  _ You sound just like…. How is dying before your time worth it? How is missing out on the best parts of life worth it? Alice..I would give anything to not be what I am right now.”

Alice wanted to hold him but in this state she wasn't sure if he would welcome it or kick off again.

Nothing was said for a moment whilst he carefully put a plaster over the cut on her arm.

“Look! This is what I am now!” He yelled suddenly “I attack women when they are trying to wake me up for  _ fucks sake!  _ There's a knife embedded in the floor because I can't control my own head anymore!”

Alice made to grab him, fuck it if he kicked off and fuck any developing feelings she had for him, she had seen Slayers spiral like this and human contact, proof that there was someone that cared always helped. As she got her arms up Bucky suddenly stormed out of the bathroom causing her to nearly fall off.

Growling to herself Alice jumped down from the counter and ran after him, she wasn't leaving him alone again.

  
  


 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No more secrets...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is the breaking point for Alice and Bucky and everything comes to a head, unfortunately, Alice's methods are questionable but try not to dislike her for this. Alice means well and really does care.

Bucky was pacing when Alice got out of the bathroom, shooting furious glances at the knife but he seemed unwilling to go and actually get it.

Huffing and rolling her eyes Alice went and knelt next to the knife and pulled it out. Eyeing up the hole left in the floor Alice muttered “Well, any hope of getting the deposit back has gone to hell.” 

Chancing a glance at Bucky, Alice tried to lighten the mood “I’m kidding! I had to basically bribe her with a load of cash as I don't have any ID! No deposit anyway!”

_ That  _ set him off again, “Oh right! And why don't you have ID? Because you are dumped in a whole other dimension so that you can kill demons, without backup! I mean, if you die, brutally murdered then who cares right? They just send another. And when she dies they do it again..”

Still holding the knife Alice just shrugged, this part of the conversation was dangerous, he still thought that they had sent her here. Not the truth. That she was a chicken shit coward who  _ ran away. _

 

Still ranting Bucky continued “You have sacrificed everything for them and they wouldn't bat an eyelid if you died! You're a good person and they don't care, I mean, even HYDRA cared more about me, I murdered innocent people for them so they wanted to keep me alive!”

Alice could hardly breathe past the lump in her throat, Bucky couldn't see past what they had forced him to do for all those years, she tried again to move towards him “Bucky, you  _ are  _ a good person! What happened before doesn't matter! It's what you do  _ now  _ that-”

Spinning away from her Bucky stalked into the kitchen yelling over his shoulder “No Alice, I'm a murderer, you said it yourself. I'm dangerous and that's all I'm ever going to be. How could I ever be anything else?”

 

Looking back, Alice could never decide if what she did next was the right choice. This moment led to some of the worst days in her life, surpassing even the lab and what happened after her parents and Maggie had died. 

But it also led to some of the happiest moments she would ever know.

Alice didn't know if it was the  _ right  _ choice exactly but, she still wouldn't change it.

 

Storming up to Bucky and looking him square in the eye, she held the knife up and ordered “Well kill me then.”

 

Bucky stopped dead. He looked like she had slapped him “What?” 

“Kill me. If that's all you think you are, then get going, kill me.”

“Wha- No! I didn't mean -”

Putting all the frustration, all the hurt, and yeah, all the anger she was feeling into her voice Alice let loose “”Oh, so all you are is a killer but you can't take this order?! Why not?!” Shoving him in the chest she moved closer again even as he tried to get around her, “Killing is what you're here for right? All that strength and skill only has one use right? So follow your orders soldier and kill me!”

Bucky was backed into the kitchen counter now, Alice had never seen him look so scared. There was plenty of anger there too, he didn't want to be told this about himself that much was clear. 

_ I hope you know what you're doing Alice. _

Pressing the knife into his metal hand she brought it up to her neck and held it there. Bucky tried to move, to get her to let go but couldn't do anything without causing injury to Alice, which is what she wanted. 

“Alice, stop! I won't hurt you, I couldn't. You're too important-”

“You said it yourself Buck, I'm easily replaceable. Just do it would you? Stop making excuses and   _ KILL ME!”  _ Alice ended on a yell, she was desperately trying to hold back the tears, Bucky had to be pushed like this, he  _ had to. _

 

At that Bucky finally seemed to snap, he pushed back and brought them to the middle of the kitchen, he grabbed her hand holding the knife with his metal arm, the look on his face was nothing but rage. He would follow through on the order now.

 

Before he could do anything else, Alice placed her free hand on his right arm and held it there and slackened the grip she had on the knife. Looking in his eyes Alice whispered “I was forced into becoming a Slayer. I  _ chose  _ stay one. And even after everything I would never alter that decision Bucky, I have saved so many lives by putting mine on the line.”

Twisting slightly, but still not cutting her throat, Bucky's eyes started to shine.

“You were forced and tortured into being a mindless killer for a bunch of men who deserve nothing but our hatred. But you're free now Bucky, you  _ could  _ choose to use the skills you have been given and stay as an assassin, hell the money is great and at least you could pick who you killed.”

Twisting again and breathing heavily Bucky tried again to move, Alice wasn't sure if it was to get away or to strike.

“ _ Or,  _ you could use them to become the hero that I know you could be, I know that I need help. Captain America probably does too. But you are the only person that can make that choice Bucky.”

Looking him straight in the eye, Alice dropped her hands.

“So choose.”

They stayed that way for several of the longest seconds of Alice's life, Bucky didn't say anything, he seemed incapable of speech.

Looking into his eyes, Alice saw a change. For one heart stopping moment she felt the knife press harder against her neck..

Bucky's eyes suddenly cleared, looking horrified he pushed her away so she crashed against the counter and the knife clattered harmlessly against the floor.

Spinning away, Bucky threw himself against the wall. He stood there for a moment. Alice didn't say anything.

_ No, I would say you have said enough, wouldn't you? _

On a strangled yell, Bucky punched the wall twice with his metal arm. Letting her knees give out, Alice went to the floor.  _ These are the exact same spots we were at when he first came here  _ Alice thought inanely.

 

Eventually he stopped but he didn't turn to her and still didn't say anything. 

Dropping her head, Alice was the first to break the silence. “So…I lied to you about something Bucky. I'm going to tell you about it and after…if you want to leave, never see me again then I won't stop you. I just want you to know, what I just did to you? It was a nasty, hardcore thing to put you through but you  _ did  _ get through it. You're better than what they tried to make you. You need to know that. Remember that, if you do leave.”

Alice heard a sharp intake of breath but still, he didn't say anything. Keeping her head down and screwing her eyes shut, Alice let the whole truth come out.

“I told you that The Council sent me here, vampires running around New York and they wanted me to stop it? Truth is, I was here first. I ran away because- well bad stuff happened and I just couldn't deal with it anymore, being a Slayer, the dangers that it involves. I just wanted a new life. So I ran away and forced this Warlock to send me to a dimension that was more or less the same as the one that I came from. I don't know how and I don't know why but within a couple of weeks, they were here. Vampires. I nearly didn't do anything, I would've just packed up and left for another city, hoped that some of these other heroes would deal with it.”

Still, silence. There was no movement and Alice could hear him breathing so she continued “I never hated being a Slayer you know? But as soon as I realised that I couldn't escape it, even  _ after  _ escaping it…I've never felt so low or so bitter, I mean, why couldn't I just live my life? Why did I have to constantly fight? I wanted to leave but…well, the instincts kicked in, so off I went. And then I met you. And here we are.”

 

The silence dragged on. When she heard movement, she just assumed that Bucky would leave but after another moment he spoke, his voice sounding hoarse “What happened?”

Alice's head snapped up, Bucky was still stood in the same place but he was now facing her. His arms were crossed and his face was devoid of all emotion. Hope grew in Alice's chest, he hadn't left, maybe he didn't hate her?

It took a moment for the question to sink in, her heart rate spiked once she realised what he was asking “Happened? What do you mean?” 

Still with that blank face Bucky repeated himself “What happened Alice? Why did you run away?”

“Erm. It got too hard and-”

“No more lies Alice.” Looking each other dead in the eye, Alice could tell this would be a tipping point for them, she could tell him what had happened to her, making the scales balance. Or she could keep it from him. And they could never grow as…whatever it was they could be. Maybe all they ever could be was friends even if she told him but…she wanted to know if they could be more. No one had ever drawn her like James Buchanan Barnes had. And Alice knew no one else ever would.

_ Screw it,  _ Alice thought to herself,  _ aren't you tired of being alone?  _

Swallowing convulsively Alice looked up at him and whispered “It's a long story.”

Relief flashed across Bucky's face like lightning, he still stood and his arms were still crossed but there was less fury aimed at her now. “You can tell me anything.”

 

Still sat hunched up on the floor, Alice began her story.

 

“When I was 25, I received info that there was a nest of vamps nearby, 3 of then staying in a derelict house. I told Maggie and, for whatever reason, she decided to come. Maggie never came out hunting with me after I turned 20, there was just no point she said. I don't know why she came but when we got there, I kicked in the door and went inside and…well there was more than 3 vamps. There was 10.” Alice's breathing became choppy “I tried Bucky, I really tried but there was too many and Maggie just wasn't as young as she used to be. They killed her in front of me. One of them had just broken my leg, I couldn't get to her quick enough.” Bucky had slid down the wall to the floor as she had talked, he made to move to her but Alice held her hand up. Sadness and fury on his face, Bucky sat back down.

“They underestimated what seeing that would do. They thought it would break me but, well, it didn't. I killed all of them. Afterwards, I had to call in a Slayer to come and get me, I was fairly banged up. She helped get me back to the Council. I made a report and Maggie’s body was collected.”

Glancing at Bucky Alice paused, tried to talk and found she couldn't. “You did what you could Alice, that's all you can ever do.” He was sat in the same position but his face was closer and he seemed thoughtful “She sounded like a hard woman but I don't think that she would want to to blame yourself like this, would she?”

Alice just looked at him, she could stare at him all day she told herself. Realising that she wasn't saying much more the moment, Bucky nudged her leg with his own “So, is that it? You watched your Watcher die and you decide to, well, leave home?”

Snapping out of her reverie over his face, Alice made a sound that was almost a laugh but could also be a sob “No Bucky, that isn't what caused me to leave.”

 

Frowning, Bucky shook his head “Well what was it then? Seeing your mentor and trainer for the past 10 years murdered before you wasn't traumatic enough then?”

“Well, yeah, obviously. But I'm a Slayer, I do see death a lot more than most.” Throwing her head back against the counter behind her and raising her eyes to the ceiling Alice wished she could avoid the next part of the story. 

“Even though I was one of the oldest Slayers and I didn't really need one, the Council decreed that I still needed a Watcher. And they appointed Simon. He  _ hated  _ me and wasn't afraid of showing it.”

“Why? What did you do to him?” Bucky looked completely confused “You didn't beat him up or something did you?”

“No. He thought I got his mother killed.”

“Who-?  _ Maggie?!  _ The Council appointed your dead Watcher’s son to guide you and protect you?! Why would they do that to you?”

“Who knows? Anyway, he hated me long before that, he always thought that his mother spent too much time with me, she was one of the best Watchers the Council had and she spent too much time training some Slayer than help train her own son.”

“What an asshole.” 

“I got captured.” Alice blurted that out before she really thought about what she was saying.

Face going white Bucky looked at her, “Wh-what?”

Heart feeling like it would pump right out of her chest, trembling across her whole body Alice continued before she could think of a reason to stop “I got lured into a trap, I was ordered by Simon to go to a warehouse, vamps were bringing people there and keeping them, feeding from them over days and weeks. I was to meet with 2 other Slayers and take them out. I arrived, the place was pitch black, clearly no one had been around in months. I didn't think too much of it, just figured the info was out of date or misunderstood, maybe a different warehouse. I went to call Simon but before I could, I was shot with a dart, everything went black. When I woke up, I was strapped down in a white room, there was nothing but bright lights and doctors.”

Bucky moved into her field of vision, he had the most fierce look on his face Alice had ever seen. It didn't make her feel scared though, looking at him she felt that he would take on anything for her willingly. And win.

No one had ever looked at her like that before.

“What did they do to you there?”

Trying to keep herself in he present, Alice replied “They were testing me. Seeing what a Slayer of my age and power could handle…what I could heal from. Sleep deprivation, starvation, dehydration. Endurance tests. How well I could fight without any weapons. Seeing how quick I could heal from broken bones, dislocated joints. Eventually they moved onto testing various diseases and viruses on me and sending huge currents of electricity through me. Slayers can take much more than a regular person as it turns out.”

Saying all that out loud was hard. Once it was done though, Alice felt lighter. More free than she had in a long time. Bucky didn't break eye contact the whole time but she could see the storm brewing in his bright blue eyes.

“There's no point getting angry Bucky. They're not here. There's no one to take it out on.”

His voice whisper quiet, but all the more terrifying for it Bucky spoke up “Good. For them.”

 

“Yeah. Well. I don't kill people so…Are you hungry? I'm starving.” 

The thought of Bucky killing for her chilled Alice to the bone,  _ never  _ could he be allowed to put himself through that again. For her or for anyone else.

Reluctantly, Alice got herself to her feet. “I'm making breakfast now. You need to eat.”

“Don't push me away again Alice, please? I can help you, we can help each other.” Bucky stood up too but kept his distance as she moved around the kitchen, he seemed to realise that she needed the space.

Looking over her shoulder at him, Alice replied “I won't, I promise. I know you could help me with my mission.”

Bucky winced at that. Not entirely sure what she had said that was wrong, Alice continued. “I couldn't bear it if you got hurt because of me. Because of my mistakes.”

“You couldn't have known Alice. You escaped hell, wanting to go somewhere safe isn't a mistake. That's just instinct.”

 

Stopping what she was doing, Alice turned around and faced him. “Um…I didn't escape.”

“You didn't escape? What happened then?”

“I didn't lie to you! I hadn't finished the story that's all!”

Bucky started pushing his hands through his hair again in frustration “Alice, I'm not angry, I just want to know what happened, if you didn't escape, how did you end up here?”.

Nodding slowly Alice finished the last part of her story “One night, after the doctor had finished his tests for the day, him and the nurses started talking. Just before the sleeping drug they gave me kicked in I heard the doctor say… I heard him say that the tests were completed. And that the Council had ordered the execution. I had outlived my usefulness.”

Bucky opened his mouth to yell but before he could Alice held up her hand.

“I don't know what happened after that but obviously I woke up. But not in the lab, and not here. I woke up back in the Council. And I knew then that they had orchestrated the whole thing.”

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Secret spilling is hungry work...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a nice chapter. I'm nice.

Alice clammed up after dropping that little bomb on Bucky. Ordering him to sit down at the small 2 seater table in the corner, she made those pancakes that he liked, she ended up making enough for about 4 people though for two reasons 1) Bucky could easily put away that many and 2) it took her longer to do it and she had the time to try and organise her thoughts.

Putting the stack in front of him, Alice sat across from him with an apple in her hand. 

“You're not going to eat?” Making no move to do so himself, Bucky stared at her.

“You know I don't like pancakes. Plus, bizarrely, I don't have any appetite right now.” Alice shot back with more than a little sarcasm.

“Fine, don't eat. I'll make a deal then.”

Rolling the apple across the table between her two hands, Alice muttered “What is it?”

“I'll eat this gigantic stack of pancakes. You tell me why you think your Council betrayed you whilst I am eating so I can't interrupt. Then when I'm done, you can marvel at how amazing it is that one man can put so much away and not be sick.”

Giggling just slightly, Alice looked at pancakes then at Bucky and said “You’re on.”

 

Bucky started shovelling the pancakes into his mouth at a, frankly, disturbing pace so Alice carried on “I knew that they were behind it because you physically cannot get into Council buildings without proper clearance. You either have to live there full time, like Slayers and Watchers, or work there like security. You could be a visitor like family or other government types but you can't just walk in, it has to be organised months and months in advance.”

Pausing to look at Bucky, Alice's mouth fell open. All the bloody pancakes had disappeared.

Patting his stomach but not interrupting Bucky motioned for her to continue.

Shaking her head but smiling Alice finished “There are so many safeguards on those places, technological, magical. All designed so you can't just walk in. What I mean is, someone carrying me couldn't walk in just because they were carrying someone who had clearance. They would need it too. Besides, if I had been missing the the 2 years I was in the lab then surely my clearance would have been revoked anyway? So they would've had to have known that I was still alive  _ and  _ that I was coming back so that it could be reinstated or whatever.”

Shaking again but this time in anger, Alice abruptly stood up and started pacing. She could feel Bucky staring at her but she was on a roll now “Someone from that “lab”, that the Council  _ had  _ to know about, took me back into my room whilst I was still passed out and left me there. They didn't trigger anything so no one stopped them. I woke up, in my bed, fully dressed, in pain everywhere from my neck to my ankles and  _ no one realised that I shouldn't have been there!” _

Rubbing her arms because she was shaking like a damn leaf, Alice's words got faster “They had to have known! After I woke up, I don't even remember thinking all that clearly or making a plan. I just got my stuff together in a bag, grabbed the cash that was  _ still  _ in my hidey spot in the wall. Stole some expensive stuff to sell and ran. I went to Gavin, he’s the Warlock I mentioned?”

Nodding Bucky opened his mouth to say something but Alice plowed on ahead “He’s stupidly powerful but, for whatever reason, has a  _ major  _ pathological fear of Slayers. I kicked in his door, trashed the place a little and made him send me to a dimension that wouldn't be too much of a shock to the system to me. That was basically the same, just one that didn't have vampires or Slayers. I didn't mean to end up in New York, I was just happy to be anywhere else.”

Breathing heavily, Alice stopped and looked at Bucky “I didn't want to hurt him and I'm not usually that sort of person but all I could think was that I  _ had  _ to get away. Rational thinking escaped me.”

 

Story finally over Alice just stood there and waited for whatever anger would come her way.

She heard Bucky get up, and nearly jumped out of her skin when he put both arms around her and pulled her into a crushing hug.

“I don't blame you. I wish I could make this all better for you.”

Pulling away just enough so that she could look up at him Alice whispered “I would do the same for you, you know. If I could.”

Staying like that for a while, Alice decided that she  _ really  _ liked being hugged by James Barnes.

 

After a few more minutes, Bucky was the first to pull away, “Okay. So you ran away and then the vampires followed you. You can't work out why, just that they're here. You need to stop them but you can't find where they're living, you're just picking them off, one at a time and that's not going to help long term? Is that right?”

Sitting back down (and wishing she had made something to eat, she was really hungry now she wasn't lying about anything) Alice nodded “Yep. That sums it up.” Picking up the apple, Alice wolfed it down.

“Okay. New deal.”

Narrowing her eyes Alice regarded Bucky “What is it? I'm still marvelling at the last deal.”

Chuckling Bucky continued “I make  _ you  _ breakfast, I can hear your stomach from here and, apart from that apple, you haven't eaten since the night before last.”

Glaring at her when she shrugged, he continued “After breakfast, you will tell me everything that I need to know about killing vampires.”

Raising his voice as Alice started to voice an objection “Once the sun sets, we will  _ both  _ go out patrolling tonight.”

Shaking her head and taking a deep breath to announce all the ways that would  _ not  _ be happening Bucky interrupted her first “I'll just follow you anyway, I did it before and you didn't even notice.”

Alice scowled as she remembered  _ that  _ particular bit of ineptitude. Maggie would have had her run laps until she passed out as punishment.

Looking back at Bucky, Alice sighed. There was no smile on his face, he was as deadly serious as she had ever seen him.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Alice blurted.

“What?”

Looking up, she saw the cracks in the wall from where Bucky had lost his head after she had nearly forced him to kill her (just like HYDRA would have) and, if she got up, she would see the hole in the floor in the next room where he had lashed out to protect himself after a horrific nightmare. Bearing in mind that the nightmare came after she had called him a murderer, it didn't take a genius to work out that she had triggered something for him.

In the last 15 hours or so Alice had done nothing but cause him pain, this chivalry and gentlemanly behaviour shouldn't be coming her way. 

Alice looked at him “I said, why are you being so nice to me? I don't deserve it. I certainly don't deserve you coming out and risking your life to help me. After last night? After what I put you through this morning? Any sane person would walk out the door and never look back.”

Bucky took his time replying. He seemed to be measuring his words, after a few moments he crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her before responding “Are you trying to piss me off Alice? What, exactly, is your problem now?”

Dropping her gaze, Alice tried to get her thoughts in order. “I just…don't think that it's right, to let you get in harms way because of me. I know I said I'd consider it but, the more I think about it… your life is worth more to me than…well I just don't want you in this line of fire. You've been through more than enough.”

Alice kept her head down, she was waiting for him to start yelling or, better yet, agree and promise to stay away.

When the silence stretched, Alice spat out “All these people are dead because of me! I could've stayed and tried to stop what was going on at home, I could've done anything else but run to a highly populated city in a whole other dimension, no less. It's my fault. I won't have your death on my conscience too.”

 

After a moment, Bucky finally responded “I get it Alice, I do know what guilt feels like.”

“Yeah well, that was 100% not your fault.”

Bucky rolled his eyes to the ceiling as if to pray for patience, “You’re going to eternally frustrate me Alice, aren't you? Look, I appreciate the fact that you want to protect me from this. But you invited me here, you’ve already protected me more than you ever needed to. All I'm asking is that you let me help you now. And I'm only bringing this up because you already did, but didn't you push a knife into my hand not too long ago and tell me to make a choice? You ordered me to choose what to do with the powers that I have, that I never asked for. I  _ have  _ chosen. I  _ want  _ to help you. I don't die easily Alice. Let me be there for you like you've been for me. Have a little faith.”

Bucky moved next to her and cupped his flesh hand around the back of her neck and placed his metal hand on her arm “I'm not stupid Alice. I realise that this is dangerous for me, not just because of what I'm hunting but because of the people already hunting me. What is more dangerous to me though? Is not being there to help you. I care about you a lot Alice Winters and I am not letting you do this by yourself for one more night.”

All the same reasons to tell him no swirled around her head. All the reasons to say yes spun around there too making her feel dizzy. Looking him squarely in the eye, Alice grabbed the hand holding her neck.

Alice caved, “Fine, but you will follow my orders, do you understand? If you get hurt, may God have mercy on you, because I bloody won't. Okay?”

Smiling broadly, Bucky nodded his head. “Like I said, I'm not stupid. But promise me something okay?”

Still holding onto him but unwilling to let go just yet Alice raised her eyebrows for him to continue.

“Don't go all maverick and go off on your own okay? If it goes sideways we stick together. I won't leave you and you wont leave me?”

Rolling her eyes and groaning Alice threw her hands in the air “Bloody hell…Fine! But if it goes sideways, it's probably because you did something wrong anyway.”

Letting go of her and leaning forward Bucky dropped his voice slightly “I don't know. I've always been really good at following orders.” Then he quickly dropped a kiss on her cheek and got up,  “Still want that breakfast ?” He threw over his shoulder.

Glad he was facing the other way as her face had gone up in flames Alice could only manage a “mmmm” of assent.

_ Patrolling with The Winter Soldier. Should be interesting. _

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fighting! Yelling! Declarations of love?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! One of my favourite chapters! You have some fighting, some flirting, some fluff and sarcasm! It's got it all :D  
> There's a Buffy staking move thrown in there too, just for fun.

_ Okay. Not so interesting so far. _

Alice and Bucky had been out for 2 hours and not come across one single vampire. Walking through a set of back alleyways in a business district Alice was trying not to let her frustration show. 

_ Well that's what you get for agreeing to let him come with you, the man looks like a walking painful death! Of  _ course  _ he would scare away the bad guys, even vampires have  _ some  _ sense. You know there was a reason why Slayers are always women, no one who sees you thinks you could ever be a threat,  _ the voice scoffed.

Rolling her eyes, Alice huffed out a annoyed breath.

“Why do you keep doing that?” 

Snapping out of the internal argument she was having, Alice looked up at Bucky “What? Doing what?”

“I see you every so often, it's like you're having a conversation with yourself. And you don't like what you hear.”

Shrugging Alice figured it wouldn't hurt to tell him, he knew pretty much everything else now.

“When I was in the lab, no one spoke to me. Like, they would ask if I consented to tests. I would say no. And that was it. There was no telling me what was happening. I would beg and cry and plead with them to stop but, nothing. After a while, I'm not sure exactly how long, but I started to talk to myself just to have a conversation, I kept it in my head because I didn't want them knowing what I was thinking but…well the voice kept me sane. It hardly ever tells me what I want to hear but that's fine.”

Bucky slowed down but didn't stop. Looking back at him Alice sent a questioning look at him.

“What those people put you through…” 

Alice shrugged “It doesn't matter now. I'm here, and I have more important things to worry about. And so do you.” Sending a pointed look at him Alice continued, trying to keep her senses open.

“I don't think I could've held on like you did.”

Bucky said that quietly, so quietly that Alice didn't think that she was supposed to hear.

Rounding on him Alice seethed “Excuse me? You  _ did  _ hold on! You  _ have  _ held on! You were in HYDRA’s clutches  _ twice!  _ The last time lasting for over 70 years! And both times you came back as a good man! Look at you now! Putting your life on the line to help me. I've put everyone's lives in danger by being selfish and running away after 2 years in a lab. After 70 years you go straight into protective soldier mode. Stop selling yourself short, I won't stand for it.”

“You have a lot of faith in me, bearing in mind I'm someone who spent the last 70 years killing people.”

“I already said, that wasn't something you had any control over. James Barnes was never a murderer and The Winter Soldier was never real. You're trying to make amends now. What else can you do?”

Without being fully conscious of it, Alice had moved right into Bucky's space as she spoke.

They were staring at each other. Alice was aware of that tension building up again, this time however Bucky seemed to be feeling it too. Breath catching, Alice's hand seemed to move of it's own violation and began to move to Bucky's face.

Before she got there however, a noise a few feet away made her jump and spin around. Grabbing her stake Alice stood there and listened.

Bucky moved behind her “Vampire?”

Dropping her hand, Alice turned back “No. I think it was just a cat. Come on, we have a lot more ground to cover.” They moved on. Neither mentioned the moment they just shared.

****

Another hour later and Alice felt like screaming. Nothing. Not a  _ single  _ vampire. She could sense some but not close enough for her to track, they were just swimming in and out of her senses.

“So you did this every night?” Bucky's voice was quiet, he seemed to know that Alice needed to concentrate.

Looking over at him, Alice shook her head “Well no, not quite. There were 2 other Slayers that covered the Greater London area, we worked our own sections but, even though we don't need  _ as much  _ sleep as regular people, we still need rest. So we would rotate on, like, a shift basis. 2 weeks on and 2 days off.”

“That doesn't sound like a lot.”

“Meh. We did get longer periods every so often but they needed Slayers to be as active as possible. We don't live forever after all.” Alice said this distractedly, the being watched feeling had started to get stronger. 

Before she could follow it up a metal hand wrapped around her upper arm and spun her around.

Next thing she knew, Alice was confronted by a pair of angry blue eyes. 

“What does that mean? No one lives forever.”

Feeling confused and distracted Alice blurted “Well what do you think? Our life spans are pretty short. Slayers live, on average to about 25.” Realising what she had said Alice started to elaborate.

Bucky beat her to it though “So you're telling me that you're  _ old  _ for a Slayer?! 27 is considered old?!”

“Hardly old, no. Just, not very likely to get older. We get stronger the more years we are alive but that's not a sure fire way to stay alive is it? Eventually, you get complacent, make mistakes. And there is always someone stronger than you.”

Bucky went to open his mouth again but Alice could suddenly  _ feel  _ the vampires nearby. Holding up her hand and putting her finger against her lips in a  _ shh _ gesture, Alice moved around the corner with Bucky behind her. There was a small warehouse at the end of an alleyway. 

_ Bingo. _

_ “ _ Okay. Enough talk. There are vampires in there okay? I think maybe 5 so that should be easy enough for us. Are you ready? I need you to concentrate and stay with me in this, stop worrying about stuff that doesn't matter. It could get you killed.”

Bucky nodded. Before she could move forward however Bucky leant over her back and whispered in her ear “We will continue that conversation later though, Alice”

Shivering slightly at his tone, but not feeling scared, Alice moved forward.

****

“Okay, you see that door up there? That's how we get in. We can scope the place out first, see if this is where they are nesting and then take out all of them.”

Looking sceptical, Bucky looked up. “I'm with you.” Was all he said.

Smiling to herself, Alice moved a step closer to the warehouse. “Are you sure you can keep up though?” With that Alice ran forward and  _ jumped  _ the 2 stories to the door. Landing with the smallest amount of noise, Alice looked over the railing and waved casually at Bucky.

Mouth hanging open, Bucky stood and stared.

Frowning, Alice mouthed “ _ Hurry up!” _

Seeming to shake himself out of his trace Bucky smirked. Then he ran and did the exact same thing Alice had.

Landing next to her, he just cocked his head at her and mouthed “ _ Hurry up!” _

_ Okaaay. Knew he was strong but…  _

“Don't get cocky Sarge.” Trying not to let that memory distract her for the rest of the night, Alice moved to the door and ripped the chain off the handle.

“Okay. Firstly we just listen, hopefully they will talk about this vamp that made them. If we're really lucky, the vamp that made them will be there. Once I say so, we jump over the railing and take them out okay?”

Nodding, Bucky followed Alice as she went through the door.

They were stood on a walkway that ran around the top part of the warehouse. Getting to the floor, Alice and Bucky moved towards the railing and looked over.

There were 4 vampires on the ground, they were talking quietly and looking at a map. Alice couldn't hear what they were saying and couldn't make out what the map showed.

“ _ I thought you said there was 5?”  _ Bucky mouthed.

Before Alice could reply a hand came down on her shoulder.

“Oh there's the fifth!” Alice stood up and waited for Bucky to do so too. Spinning around Alice addressed the vamp holding her in what he thought was a strong grip.

“Do you mind? We're trying to spy here?”

Utter confusion on his face, Alice used his distraction to grab the stake in her jacket, plunged it into its chest and launched it over the side where it exploded in mid air.

The vamps on the ground stopped talking as they were showered with dust and looked up.

****

“Are you still with me?”

Bucky had his game face on. Not saying a word he looked at Alice and nodded.

Smiling in relief, Alice nodded back, and jumped over the railing. Landing in the floor in front of the vamps, Bucky a second behind her. Alice regarded the vampires. “Sorry to interrupt. Anyway.”

Alice spun and kicked the nearest vamp in the face. He went flying so Alice grabbed the vamp that had run at her and threw him into the one that had landed on the other side on some pallets.

Looking at Bucky to make sure he was okay with the other 2 Alice ran towards the ones that she had sent across the warehouse.

_ Wow though, did you see him? That man can  _ fight!  _ Who would've thought eh? _

Nodding to herself in agreement, Alice got her head back in the game as she reached the dazed vamps. Holding her favourite stake in her right hand, she staked the nearest one in the back as he tried to get up.

The other realised what had happened, he ran towards her with fury in his yellow eyes. Ducking underneath the punch that he swung at her, Alice pulled back and hit him with a right hook. Falling back, he landed against the wall. Hitting him again as he hit the wall, Alice grabbed the front of his shirt “Give me a name!”

“You won't find him.”

“Ugh! What do you care? You're going to be dead anyway!”

The vamp shrugged at that “Huh. Got a point I suppose. Look, I'll tell you his name. I had a family, I'm never going to see them again am I?”

“No.” Alice said sadly.

“Right. Well his name is Ethan.”

“Who?!”

****

Before he could reply, a cry of pain interrupted their little chat.

Looking over her shoulder, Alice saw Bucky with one of the vamps attached to his right arm, it had bitten him and he couldn't get him off.

“Shit!”  _ James. _

“Thanks.” Looking it in the eye, Alice staked the vampire.

All rational thought left her again  _ You should have kept it alive! You got a name, what good is a name of a vamp you've never even heard of without a bloody location?! _

Not even caring, Alice ran towards Bucky. He was wearing a long sleeved top and jacket and the vamp had bitten his upper arm. Biting through the clothes and muscle meant that he could hardly be getting a lot of blood but it was obviously good enough that he had clamped down and turned almost feral.

Bucky was punching it but it wouldn't shift. He couldn't just pull it off without doing serious damage to his arm.

_ ShitShitShitShit. _

Reaching them, Alice used a dirty trick which she really didn't care too much about using.

Running behind it, Alice drop kicked it right in the balls.

Rearing up on a cry of agony, the vampire let go and Bucky stumbled back.

Grabbing the back of it's shirt and trousers Alice threw it back into the wall and then as it got up, she staked it.

As she moved towards Bucky the other one ran at her her back, without even looking Alice tucked the stake under her right arm and let it run into the pointy end.

****

Rounding on Bucky, Alice yelled “You IDIOT!”

Only frowning at his arm, not even having the decency to looked ashamed, Bucky looked up at her and shrugged “All in a nights work right? Thanks for the help though. You were incredible, I kept on getting distracted by watching you. I promise it won't happen again.” He said all this with a smile, he didn't even look pale.  _ Well he is a super soldier, moron. _

Alice threw a disgusted look at him “Distracted?!  _ Distracted?!  _ These things want to kill you, you stupid git! If you can't keep your bloody eyes on them then they  _ will always  _ find a way to rip your throat out and drain you dry! If you  _ ever  _ put me through that again Bucky…..” 

Letting out a groan and putting her head in her hands, Alice felt the adrenaline drain away. “Are you okay?” 

Bucky walked over to her and lifter her chin with his finger. “I'm fine Alice, it takes a lot more than that to hurt me.”

“Well I don't think I could take much more than that hurting you.”

Eyes widening slightly Bucky tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I didn't mean to scare you.”

“It's fine. Just..freaked me out more than I realised it could.”

_ Liar. You know what he means to you. Not surprising that seeing him hurt would shake you. Just  admit it. _

Dropping her eyes to her watch as she couldn't keep the eye contact up Alice shakily replied “Come on, I need to get you back so I can clean your arm.”

****

Back at the flat, Alice had Bucky sat on the sofa. She was knelt in front of him on the floor, cleaning and bandaging his arm. Bucky was still wearing the combat style clothes he had worn out but he had removed his jacket and the right arm of the top he was wearing he had ripped off. The arm that covered his metal arm he had already ripped off before they went out.

Alice was trying not to think too hard about the fact that he was so close and that he was basically in a tank top. 

“This is going to scar.”

Bucky shrugged “Won't be he first I have.”

Growling slightly Alice snapped “That's not the point! You now have another to add to the collection!”

“And? I helped you, I didn't die from it and neither did you. It's not the end of the world.”

“Not the end of the world?!” Standing up and throwing the bandages to the to floor Alice started to leave the room.

“Where’re you going?” Rushing to catch up with her Bucky ducked around her so he stood in her path “Alice, what’s going on?”

Breathing hard, feeling stressed and worried Alice looked at Bucky and couldn't hold it back “I thought I could handle you coming with me! But seeing you get hurt? And knowing that what happened wasn't even that bad? Just means that next time could very well be worse! And thinking of that happening..it's like- it's like all the air leaves the room and I can't think clearly.”

Bucky had started to move closer and closer as Alice ranted. He was so close now that they were basically breathing the same air.

“I can't deal with that right now Bucky. I have work to do.”

Moving around him and into the hallway, she tried to get to the door before he could catch up.

****

Alice barely made it 4 steps before his arm snaked around her waist and brought her back into the kitchen.

“Oi! Let me go!”

Bucky dumped her back on her feet in front of the wall in the kitchen that bore the marks of his fury from early that morning.

He stood right before her and caged her in with both arms on either side of her head “You're not going anywhere, you promised you would stay.” Bucky growled in her face.

“I lied!” Hissed Alice desperately.

“You think that I'm not worried Alice? That seeing you grabbed by that monster earlier didn't stop my heart? I don't care about making amends, that's not why I went out with you! I want to keep you safe!”

He held his breath for a moment. Alice couldn't speak past the lump in her throat.

Letting it out slowly Bucky said the words that forever altered the rest of Alice's life and influenced all the choices she made afterwards. “I love you Alice. I've been in love with you since the day you invited me to live here even after you knew what I was capable of. You are the strongest, bravest and, frankly, the scariest woman I have ever met and I don't want to be anywhere that you aren't. I  know you need to finish what's been started here and I will be there to help you every step of the way.”

All her breath left her. This was like a dream. Alice didn't want to wake up if it was. But she had been trying to avoid this, she couldn't let it be real.

“You can't mean that Bucky. I have caused you nothing but pain since you met me-”

Still closing her in with his arms he moved his face even closer “Don't tell me what I mean and don't mean. I've had enough of people telling me what to think. This is real. I. Love. You.”

Gazing up at him, Alice tried again “I'm not a good bet, you've seen first hand what my life is like.”

“That's why I want to help you. I can keep you safe, help you end this. Then we can get away. You can't go back home and I the only one I have is here. We could try to make a life outside of violence and death. You could get actually old. Not just old for a Slayer.”

****

The picture he was painting was too beautiful to be real. Isn't that what she escaped for? To make an actual life for herself?

_ So many reasons not to…. _

“If you really don't want me then all you have to do is say no, Alice.”

Screwing her eyes closed to keep him from distracting her further Alice desperately tried to hold on to rational thought.

****

_ Oh, bollocks to it. _

****

Looking up at Bucky, Alice threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him with everything in her.

A heartbeats pause, then Bucky's right arm grabbed onto the back of her head and grasped a fistful of her hair and his metal arm snapped around her waist and he was kissing her back. Alice could barely hold onto a basic thought like, you know, breathing. It was like fire in her blood, lightning over her skin. Those sensations should have scared her but, unlike what had happened to her in the lab, these feelings brought her to Nirvana. Not Hell. 

Pulling away for a small moment to catch her breath Alice held his face in her hands “I love you too. I have wanted to say that for so long but I was scared Bucky, what happens when I'm not good enough for you?”

Pulling away only enough to meet Alice's eye level and moving both hands to bracket her face,  Bucky gave her a disbelieving look “Not good enough for  _ me?  _ What are you talking about? Alice, I'm- well you know what I am, what I've done. And you love me….” Bucky sounded quietly in awe of that fact.

Clinging to the front of Bucky's top, Alice glared at him “Of  _ course  _ I do! How could I not? Everything you've been through, what you are willing to put yourself through now. For me! You're becoming the world to me.” Shaking her head and looking down at the floor Alice took a shaking breath.

Running his thumb gently over her cheek bone, Bucky whispered “So what's the problem Alice? Why would you think that? There's  _ nothing  _ you could do to be “not good enough””

Bucky attempted a London accent as he said that, sure enough Alice smiled “God, that was awful.” Sighing again Alice lifted his flesh hand and pressed a soft kiss to his palm.

“I'm used to guys being intimidated by how strong I am. I've never had a relationship with a guy because the second they figure out that I'm stronger than they could  _ ever  _ be they shut down. Try to make me feel less because….I'm more. I know that you're not like that, you're at least as strong as me. Maaaaybe stronger.”

Giggling slightly at Bucky's snort of disbelief Alice shrugged “I've never been able to be myself with anyone. Now that I have that chance? It'll break me if you don't want me too.”

****

Simon, of all people, had put it into words for Alice “You look like a little china doll but can put down a man twice your size. Men want a woman who actually is as delicate as they look, not some bird that could snap their collar bone if they do something wrong. Or something right for fucks sake. You just ain't woman enough for a normal bloke.”

****

Simon was the worst.

****

Bucky cocked his head for a moment then leant down and whispered in Alice's ear “I  _ want  _ you Alice. There's nothing about you that I'd change.”

Feeling about 10 feet tall at his words, Alice stood on her tiptoes and whispered back “You better not change your mind babe. I get the feeling that I am going to be  _ very  _ possessive over you.”

Growling, Bucky slammed his lips back over Alice's and kissed her until her toes curled and her head swam.

Alice let her hands run down over his arms and up and his back, keeping her hands above his clothes. Alice didn't want to overstep her bounds with him. Kissing was one thing, assuming more straight away was not something Alice herself would be comfortable with, there was no way she expect Bucky to be. Still…she  _ loved  _ how he felt under her palms, there was so much power there, she knew she would never have to hold any part of herself back from him. Bucky could take it. Alice was pretty certain she could take him too but…

Stilling her hands exploration, Alice slowed the kiss down. “Bucky? I'm sorry, just…I don't want to rush things with you. I have the rest of my life now. So do you. Can we slow down a bit? Now I know you're not going anywhere…”

Bucky let his forehead rest against Alice's and sighed softly before stepping back.

“Actually, yeah. That's a good idea. I..I don't think I'm ready for that just yet either. It's…a lot to take.”

****

Nodding, Alice took a side step towards the door “I understand. Okay. Well, I'll go and finish patrolling for the night and I'll bring some food back with me and-”

Again, before she could make it too far Bucky was blocking her path again “Where the hell did you think you were going?”

Smiling, Alice replied softly “I need to finish tonight's work. I'll only be gone a couple of hours.”

Raising his eyebrows, looking like Alice had just announced that she was going to take on an army by herself before breakfast, Bucky shook his head “Um. No, you're not. Not without me. Not tonight. Or tomorrow. Or ever again.”

“But-but I…You're hurt so… I'm not going “maverick” or whatever term you used earlier. I'm just finishing the job. That's what I do.”

Feeling utterly flummoxed, Alice stared at Bucky. Both Simon and Maggie would've had her back out by now. Staying in had never been an option. 

But Bucky wasn't her Watcher. Bucky loved her. Alice needed to remember that.

“Nope. Not anymore. You did you your job. You killed 5 tonight and got a name. Besides, like you said, I'm hurt. You can't leave me on my own.” Bucky crossed his arms across his chest and refused to budge.

Alice just stood there, his arms were far too distracting.  _ That same arm is the one he says is “hurt”, he's fine you halfwit. Get on with your job. _

“Ummm. What happens if-?”

All words left her when Bucky leant forward and planted the softest kiss on her lips “I told you, I'm not letting you do this by yourself again. There's only a few more hours until daylight. You're having the rest of the night off. That's an order.” 

Determination melting as if it had never been, Alice silently agreed with him and let him deepen the kiss. 

“Okay. I won't go anywhere. I love you.”

“I love you too Alice.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's all fun and games until you need to sleep...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A nice fluffy chapter with lots of talking and kissing. Then the ending happens.

Alice had never had a night like this one. Being able to admit what she felt, and having Bucky say those world altering words to her…Alice felt stronger than she had ever had. Having someone like James Buchanan Barnes there to help support her, that didn't  _ blame  _ her, it meant more than she could ever put into words.

 

It was very early in the morning but neither of them had made any move to go and sleep, they  _ had  _  moved to her bedroom but, as discussed, they did nothing more than hold each other and kiss until Alice could barely remember her own name.

Eventually they had started talking again. About the past. About their future. 

“Did you mean that earlier?”

“Mean what?”

Bucky was resting against the headboard of the bed and Alice was sat with her back to his chest, his metal arm was around her waist holding her to him and his right arm was resting behind his head.

With her head moved forward, Alice was regarding the intricate way the metal worked. Honestly, the sight of it made her blood boil…unfortunately it was also a marvel of engineering and she couldn't help but admire its beauty-

“Alice?”

Throwing her head back and looking over her shoulder at him, Alice smiled guiltily “Sorry love.”

Brushing more of her hair back from her neck Bucky just raised his eyebrows for her to continue.

“Did you mean that you wanted to get away? Spend the rest of our lives away from everyone? What about Steve?”

“Don't you want to spend the rest of your life with me doll?” He was smiling but his eyes betrayed that Alice had touched a nerve.

“I want to never leave your side again. To be totally honest I'm surprised you managed to survive as long as you did before I knocked you out of the road.”

Giggling when he tickled her side in punishment, Alice continued breathlessly “I’m kidding! I just meant, well he was your best friend. He's going to be looking for you. You dragged him out of that lake and then disappeared. He's going to want to know why.”

When his eyes dropped Alice tried again “I just want you to be happy. Trying to build a friendship again with him will make you happy.”

Meeting her eyes, Bucky smiled again “I'm still trying to work out my memories Alice. Everything up until when he fell into that lake is really blurry still. I don't want to see him until I have more of it straight. That's what those diaries are for.”

Alice had seen him scribbling furiously in those diaries, at least twice she had bought him new ones. They hadn't really talked about them before, Alice wasn't sure if she wanted him to dredge up those memories now. Just about to change the subject, Alice went to speak but Bucky carried on.

“Apart from anything else, if Steve finds me, as happy as he will be…he will eventually want me to do the right thing. He will want me to turn myself in, see where the law takes me.”

Seeing red, Alice ranted “You will NOT turn yourself in! He’l have to go through me first! I won't allow it!”

Smiling broadly at that Bucky pulled her closer to him “Oh my, I would love to see that! You know, for someone so little you're really fierce doll. Steve wouldn't know what to do with you threatening him.”

Turning back to look at his arm so Bucky couldn't see how scared she really was Alice just nodded.

“You want to tell me what you're thinking about?” Bucky murmured in her ear. Goosebumps broke  out across Alice's arms. Turning back again Alice found his face so much closer than she realised.  “I think you can guess what I am thinking James Barnes.” 

Smiling, Bucky kissed her again. He was right.

 

A little while later they were sat up again, this time they were facing each other, Alice's legs crossed in front of him.

_ It would talk no effort to jump all over him Alice. He wouldn't say no. How you've held out this long is beyond me. _

Alice ignored the voice. As much as she wanted Bucky like that she needed to wait a bit longer.  _ Bucky  _ needed to wait longer.

“How come you ended back in Brooklyn by the way? Surely this would be the first place that anyone would look for you?” Alice and Bucky had been making out like teenagers before this but when he had pulled away suddenly, breathing erratically and his eyes darting in every direction, Alice had let him and asked her question. Bucky had been through more than she could ever imagine, he needed to try and get used to her touching him but still be in control if it got too much. 

Shooting her a look that said he knew what she just did, Bucky slowly moved his hands to rest loosely on her waist and considered the question “Well… I don't know. I just couldn't get my head straight. I could barely remember my own name. I just had this blonde guys words ringing in my head what my name was. After I dragged him out of that lake… I forced myself to try and follow it up. I went to this museum in DC to look at his exhibit and… There I was. My face looking back at me from this picture right next to Captain America. I was so  _ angry  _ Alice. I wanted to find those people that did that to me, that  _ took  _ that from me. I wanted to kill them all.”

“I can understand that.” Alice's arms were now crossed across her chest to try and mask the shakes that she was having. Angry was not a strong enough word for what she was feeling.

Looking at her with fury in his own eyes, Bucky whispered “I know you do.”

Grinding her teeth against the injustice of it, Alice didn't know how to make it better. So she did the only thing she could think of, and started running her hand through his hair and waited for him to continue.

“Something told me that I could find answers in Brooklyn, maybe I would find something to tie me to my past. I got here though and, just… there was nothing, I didn't recognise anything. I was trying to plan my next move when, next thing I knew, this super strong woman was tackling me to the ground and calling me an idiot.”

“What a cow.” Alice replied dryly.

“I think I wanted to try and find home. And I have.”

Utterly undone, Alice couldn't even speak. Forcing the words passed the lump in her throat, Alice swore “I'll never let them get you again, you know that right? I'll kill them first.”

Looking horrified Bucky grabbed Alice's chin and forced her to look at him “Don't say that Alice. Please? You've never killed anyone, you don't want that on your mind. It never goes away. I don't want that for you, not even to help me.”

Shaking her head out of his grip and feeling helpless, Alice said the only thing she could think “Let's hope it never comes to that then.” When all he did was look at her, Alice shrugged “I could at least maim them. I have no problem breaking their goddamn bones so they could never walk again. Couldn't run so fast after you then could they?”

Sighing, Bucky just pulled Alice down and held her to him on the bed.

 

“Do you want to see something?”

Lying next to each other in silence, Alice had nearly fallen asleep but she realised that there was one thing that she hadn't shown Bucky yet. It was  _ important  _ but she couldn't articulate why she needed to show him right this second.

“What's that?”

Jumping up Alice walked to the end of the bed “I need to get underneath.”

“You want me to move or-”

Ignoring him Alice leant down and picked up the bed and moved it far enough across to get to her hiding spot.

“Okay. Wow.”

Smirking, Alice moved the floorboards and grabbed the bag out of the hole. Quickly replacing everything and shoving the bed back into position, Alice sat at the foot of the bed with the bag in between them.

“So I already told you that I had brought some stuff with me when I came here didn't I?” At his nod Alice brought out the remaining cash and the orbs.

Gesturing for him to take the last item out, Alice waited to see what his reaction would be.

Eyes going wide, Bucky held the Scythe in his hands “What the hell is this? Looks like a goddamn torture device.”

Rolling her eyes, Alice took it from him and began explaining “This is the Slayer Scythe. We all have one, it's a perfect weapon for us, particularly if we are fighting large numbers. Kills hard bodies, 3 ways. I only ever took it out for end of the world type stuff, it's a bit ostentatious for normal patrolling. The Scythes get passed down to each Slayer after they die. I got mine a few weeks after I started training. I didn't realise until quite a while later that a girl had died in order for me to get it. They leave that part out.” Alice said that last part bitterly. Gripping it tighter Alice continued “After I woke up back in the Council after the lab, I went looking for my stuff that I had hidden in my room, including this. It's the only weapon that I ever wanted to use. I had to take it.”

“You would think that the Council would have stripped everything, taken that away. Seems odd that they would leave everything there just for you to find and take when you woke up.”

The worlds smallest alarm bell started to go off in Alice's head but before she could follow it up, Bucky distracted her by getting up and manhandling her Scythe. He was spinning and twirling it around, doing some showey slashes and jabs. Jumping up, Alice grabbed it before he could do anything else “Stop that! It's not a toy!”

“What? Was I using it wrong?”

Shaking her head Alice replied “No, you looked incredible, obviously. Just..it's strange, you won't feel what I feel when I hold it. It's  _ powerful  _ and it's  _ mine.” _

Looking down Alice knew why she had wanted to bring it out “And I don't want it anymore. When we finish what we have to…I want to bury it in the middle of a forest. Or take a boat and drop it in the ocean. I don't want to be a Slayer anymore afterwards. I just want to be with you. Does that make sense?”

Picking her up and lying back down on the bed with her, Bucky brushed her hair back from her face again. “We can do whatever you want Alice. Maybe I'll throw my arm down with it.”

Threading her fingers through his hair, Alice nodded “They are both symbols of what we never intended to be. If you want to then I'll be right behind you.”

Kissing him softly, Alice let herself just enjoy having his arms around her. Let herself enjoy wrapping hers around him.

Bucky lifted his head suddenly with a big grin across his face “Before you go throwing away that weapon, do you think you could give me a demonstration?”

“Oh for heavens sake.” Alice let her head fall back, but she was smiling.  _ Well why shouldn't you smile? This is the happiest you will ever be. _

 

The sun had come up and the clock read 7.50. Alice felt bad about missing half a nights patrolling but…she had never had something,  _ someone  _ like this before. She was allowed a few hours wasn't she? 

Yawning so hard that her jaw actually cracked Alice lay back against the pillows “I think we should try and get a few hours sleep Bucky. We need to carry on tonight. You never even got to stake a vampire!”

Laying down next to her, Bucky frowned “I was too busy trying not to be a vampire snack doll, how was I supposed to fight off one with one attached to my arm and stake them anyhow?”

“Slayers manage it. Anyway, don't you worry, I'll be there to protect you from the big bad vampires.”

Giving her a look, Bucky just rolled his eyes and pulled her to him so she had her back to his chest again “Shut up and get to sleep.”

Pressing a kiss to her neck Bucky raised his head to look at the clock “Should we set the alarm do you think?”

Alice shook her head “No. I haven't slept for more than a few hours at a time since I got here. I'll wake us up don't worry.”

“Is that just a Slayer thing? You said you don't need as much sleep.”

“No, we don't but when we do sleep, we sleep as much as anyone else. I just keep on having nightmares, so…I don't sleep.”

Turning her slightly so Alice looked up at him, Bucky frowned “Really? Why didn't you say something? I just thought you weren't sleeping.”

“Well at first I didn't want to talk about it. They're always the same, vampires, blood, death. Or memories of the lab. By the time I wanted to tell you, I didn't want you to worry even more. Anyway you never told me about yours, and they're probably much worse.”

“It's not a competition Alice. At least neither of us are going to be alone again the next time it happens. I'll just not bring a knife to bed with me from now on.” 

“Yeah, that's probably for the best.” Alice said with a small smile. Before she could continue, she yawned again, this time Bucky joined her.

“Okay, enough. Sleep for a few hours.”

Rolling back over, Alice closed her eyes and fell asleep smiling, with Bucky's metal arm holding her.

 

_ Alice was walking through blood. It was everywhere, her boots had been painted blood red long before. _

_ Alice could hear screams, sounds of agony and skin tearing but no matter how fast she ran or in what direction she couldn't find them. _

_ Stares and laughter all around her, but no faces, no bodies to fight.  _

_ Running faster now, towards a small abandoned house, Alice broke through the door.  _

_ Bright light, strapped to a white chair. The doctor looming over her “Subject suggestion underway. Increase dosage.” _

_ Alice's face was like rubber, could barely feel it “Please…no. Stop.” _

_ “Subject is fighting the suggestion. No longer viable. Commence execution.” _

_ The doctor brought his face closer to Alice and removed his mask. Bucky's face staring back at her, his eyes cold and dead. _

_ Alice screamed even as the lab blew up and Bucky's face disappeared in flames. _

 

Eyes snapping open, Alice woke up. Her heart was going a mile a minute and she felt like there wasn't enough air in the room. Her limbs began moving but they felt so heavy, it was a struggle still, to move them. Alice was now laying on her back, rolling over she looked at the clock. 9.00 was blinking at her in bright red numbers.  _ What? One hour. Ugh. _

Her thoughts wouldn't organise themselves, sitting up, Alice's head felt simultaneously like it was filled with candy floss and that it was lined with lead. Looking over her shoulder, Alice checked on Bucky. Sleeping soundly still, he had rolled the other way and was facing the wall.

Getting up, Alice made her way to the bathroom.

 

After finishing in the bathroom, Alice headers towards the front door, she had a local paper delivered everyday so she went to pick it up. Figuring she could quickly scan through and make sure nothing drastic had happened after she had stopped patrolling the night before, she could run to the shop, grab some food and make Bucky something. He needed the sleep more than her. Besides, there was no chance that she would be sleeping any more after that nightmare.

Alice grabbed the paper and went to turn away but as she went to stand up she noticed there was  _ another  _ paper under the one she had in her hand.

Her heart rate started to pick up and some more cobwebs cleared from her mind. Breathing heavily she slowly took them through to the kitchen.

As she placed them both on the counter next to each other, her heart dropped to her stomach.

Bucky and Alice and gone patrolling on Monday night. There should only be a paper for Tuesday.

Instead she had Tuesdays  _ and  _ Wednesdays papers.

Alice had slept for 24 fucking hours.

_ Oh no Oh no Oh no Oh no. _

Grabbing today's paper Alice brought it to her, almost ripping it in the process. Cobwebs blasted from her brain and everything became far too clear, Alice held her breath as she looked at the front page.

 

**_Four more reported missing._ **

 

Alice ran to her laptop, still trying to keep her breathing even and not wake Bucky up. Alice knew that she should, he would want to know, but she  _ couldn't.  _

_ All your fault. All your fault. All your fault. _

 

Logging onto White Oracles website, Alice desperately hoped that it couldn't be worse than what she had just read.

And was disappointed.

TEN people had gone missing since Monday night and one other person had been found dead.

Trying to keep the panic at bay, Alice tried to calm her breathing.

_ This happens everyday back at home. Just breathe. You can fix this. You have  _ help  _ now! _

 

_ But he's not a help is he?  _ The voice piped up snidely in her head.  _ Look! One evening with him and you're sleeping in and letting all those innocent people die. That's on you! You know how you can fix this, you just don't want to! Selfish! SELFISH! _

 

Feeling like the walls were trying to close in on her, Alice held her head in her hands. 

11 people dead.

Alice barely made it to the kitchen sink before she vomited.

_ You're going to have to leave Bucky.  _

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This isn't the end... it's just the beginning.

Bucky came to awareness almost immediately, for a couple of gut wrenching moments he couldn't work out where he was.  _ Who  _ he was.

In a rush, his memories came back up to date. Clutching his head in pain, he sat up.

“Alice?” Looking around, his heart started to pound when he couldn't see her. Alice's side of the bed was messed up though, maybe she had just gotten up a few minutes earlier? 

“Alice?” He called again louder this time. Throwing his legs over the side of the bed he spotted the clock that now read 9.10.  _ Only an hour? Why the hell aren't we still asleep? _

Shaking his head to try and clear the fog, he stood up and rushed out of the room.

Looking around he spotted Alice at the sink. For a brief moment he settled, seeing her okay calmed him. His brain caught up with his eyes a second later though and he ran to her when he realised that she  _ wasn't  _ okay, she was bent over the sink and heaving but nothing was coming up.

Once he reached her, he started rubbing her back. 

Alice was shaking like a leaf and rubbing her fist over her heart, with bright eyes she looked up at him and she stumbled back “I-I'm sick Bucky, don't get too close.”

Alice's face was deathly pale, her teeth were chattering.  _ Shit! What the hell brought this on?! _

Ignoring her, Bucky threw his arm underneath her legs and carried her back, bridal style, to the bed. Placing her on it, he knelt on the floor next to her “What's happened Alice? Is it because you only slept an hour? Did you dream again?”

Alice gave a hysterical sounding laugh but started to breathe a bit calmer even as she was still shaking and rubbing her heart “N-no, I um…I must have eaten something strange. I think it's just that…t-the last time I was sick was because…the lab a-and it's kind of f-freaking me out.”

Bucky was too busy trying to hold back the fury that he felt when she mentioned the lab to notice that Alice's eyes were bright with unshed tears, or that she wasn't meeting his eyes.

“I'm okay love, please, just hold me a minute okay?”

Bucky was panicking too much to listen to the desperation in her voice “I will doll, just let me go out and get you something okay? You need something to settle your stomach and to bring your fever down.”

Alice squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head violently “No! Please, you can't go out!”

“I'm fine Alice and you're not! Look, I'll only be gone for 20 minutes, let me take care of you okay? You need to get better. I can't believe that this came on so quick.”

Pushing herself up on the bed so she was sat up, Alice threw her head in her hands and started to tug on her hair “It's too dangerous, please don't go.”

Completely frustrated and unable to work out why she was so dead set against him getting her any medication Bucky grabbed Alice's wrists and gently pulled then away from her hair “Stop it Alice, even someone as strong as you needs to be taken care of every once in a while. Please, let me help you. I promise I won't be gone long.”

Looking absolutely miserable, Alice looked at him for a long moment. Next thing he knew, she had launched herself at him in a bone crushing hug, with her face turned into his neck she begged “Please, please be careful. Wear your gloves and maybe sunglasses? Keep your face completely hidden. If you get caught because of me…”

Bewildered, Bucky just nodded his head and returned the hug even though he was careful to be gentle with her.

Alice let go and lay back on the bed, she still looked awful, her face was way too pale and she had felt far too hot and she was  _ still  _ rubbing her chest. 

To Bucky, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, he knew he didn't deserve her after what he had done, but now that he had found her and she had fallen for him too? Bucky would hold onto her no matter what. 

Unable to bear it any longer, Bucky leant over her and kissed her quickly then leant his forehead against hers “Don't worry so much Alice, I'll be back before you know it. You can have your medicine, we can curl up on the couch and watch a movie. You heal really quickly anyway don't you? You'll be fine in a few hours. Please don't worry about me, just rest.”

Alice's green eyes seemed so much brighter than usual, and they were so  _ sad. _

Taking a deep breath Alice nodded her head and whispered “Okay.” 

Bucky grabbed his jacket and gloves and pulled his boots on “See you in 20 minutes okay?” 

Before he could leave Alice spoke up again “I love you so much Bucky. I'm sorry about…about feeling this way.”

Looking down at her, Bucky felt his heart swell with what he felt for her “I love you too doll. I would do anything for you, same as what you would do for me right?” Smiling as he left the apartment, he was too preoccupied with thoughts about what pharmacy was closest to notice how Alice's face had crumpled at his words.

 

~~~~~~~~

 

“Please,  _ please  _ don't make me do this!”

Alive was begging. Sat alone on the bed in the flat she shared with the love of her life, she was begging herself to not let her leave. To let her stay.

_ You can't stay. You will never get this finished if you stay with him. You love him too much, he will  _ always  _ come first for you from now on. _

“I can make this work, I can talk to him!”

_ NO! You know I'm right. And you know you don't have a lot of time left. Make this choice Alice. Do your duty. _

“I hate you! I hate being a Slayer! I never asked for any of this! I just wanted to be free.” Alice's heart felt like it was breaking, like it was  _ burning  _ in her chest. She couldn't just walk away, there had to be another option. Bucky would  _ never  _ forgive her if she just left.

_ Your first duty is, was and will  _ always  _ be to protect those who cannot protect themselves. You brought those creatures here. It is you scared duty to  _ end  _ this. Bucky will be angry. But you  _ will  _ survive and you can find him. Make him understand. Make your choice Alice. _

After Bucky had left, the voice in her head had become clearer. Maggie’s voices was ordering her. And Maggie had always been right. Every time.

Alice stood up. Grabbed the bag with the orbs, cash and her Scythe inside. Alice walked to the kitchen. A few minutes later, Alice had done what she had had to do.

Alice ran from the flat.

 

~~~~~~

 

Bucky had been gone 15 minutes, he had gotten turned around and missed where the nearest pharmacy was. Doubling back on himself he found the place that he was looking for. Walking in, he kept his head down as Alice had asked him, he walked past a display of newspapers towards the medicine section that he needed.

An alarm bell started ringing in his head, looking around he tried to spot what the threat was and after a minute, decided that there was no one lethal in the vicinity. Stood stock still, Bucky's eyes continued to scan to try and work out what had caused the panic in him, spotting the newspapers again, his legs carried him there before he could think about  _ why. _

He was staring at them, trying to spot what had his heart rate spiking when a voice piped up “Excuse me, could you pass me the paper young man?”

Looking up, Bucky saw the elderly man holding his hand out impatiently at him. Grabbing the nearest paper Bucky made to hand it over but, then he saw it. 

_ Wednesday. _

_ No, it's Tuesday. We didn't sleep for 24 hours, I've never willingly slept that long.. _

“Are you okay kid? You look like you've seen a ghost.”

“No. Um, is that correct? Is it really Wednesday?”

Bucky kept his head down as he asked but his hands started to shake  _ Please no… _

The old man looked suspiciously at Bucky, “You been drinking son?”

Shaking his head, Bucky attempted a smile, technically he had a good few years on this guy, but he didn't want to be rude for no reason. “No sir. My um..girlfriend has been sick. She's been up for the last couple of days, guess I just got the days messed up.” He was still confused as to why the lost day would cause him to panic so much. Suddenly, he  _ knew  _ he should be back home, Alice didn't need this medicine as much as he had thought. But she  _ had _ been sick _. So why am I so worried? _

_ “ _ That's good, taking care of your girl like that. My wife, God rest her soul, I would've done anything like that for her too. I hope she gets better soon kid.”

Muttering a quick thank you Bucky grabbed a paper that was on the top shelf. The front cover announced that 4 people had gone missing over the last 2 nights.

_ Oh no. Alice, please don't do what I think you've done. _

Throwing the paper to the floor, Bucky ran out of the shop.

Running far too fast, causing people to stare, Bucky flew over the sidewalk. Thinking back over what Alice had been like, what she had said, Bucky couldn't help but think the worst. That she already knew, and she had panicked. 

Forcing himself even faster, Bucky made it back in a scarily short amount of time.

Barely winded, he ran up the stairs to the door.

_ Please please please please _

Throwing the door wide open, Bucky ran into the apartment. Going straight to her bedroom and hoping,  _ praying,  _ that he was wrong, that she would still be in bed, still look ill. She would be angry, she would probably be terrified about him running that fast in public and refuse to let him back out again. Alice was strong though, she would get better without the medicine. And she would be  _ here,  _ she would be safe with him.

Holding onto that thought, Bucky opened the bedroom door.

And felt his heart stop.

Running over to the bed, he started throwing the covers everywhere,  _ She's not here, she's not HERE! _

He ran out of the room, looked in his old room, the bathroom, kitchen, living room  _ NOTHING. _

Suddenly, he spotted a piece of paper on the counter in the kitchen. Walking slowly, as if in a dream, or in a nightmare, Bucky bent to pick it up.

 

_ Bucky, _

 

_ I am so sorry. I caused 11 more people to die, by being with you.  _

_ I love you so much, you have no idea how much you mean to me.  _

_ But I HAVE to do this on my own. I can't let anyone else die because I was selfish and wanted some happiness of my own. _

_ Try to understand. The fact that you are more important to me than all the innocent people that are dying scares me. This isn't their fault, or yours. It's mine. I need to end this. _

_ This was my life long before you. It's who I am. It's the only thing I can be. _

_ Please don't track me down. _

 

_ I love you.  _

 

_ Alice _

 

What the fuck was she talking about? There was only four people missing. On a growl, Bucky launched himself towards that god forsaken laptop. Sure enough, there was that website, stating in bold goddamn letters, that there was actually 11 people who had died since Monday. 

Feeling murderous, Bucky threw the laptop into the wall where it shattered. That stupid theorist had scared Alice into leaving. There was no  _ proof.  _ She had just  _ assumed  _ that the information in front of her face was accurate.

_ But why didn't she wait for me? Why leave?  _

Bucky read the note over and over, trying to find meaning in it. Alice had left him. To do a suicide mission by herself.

_ Too much. Too much. _

Falling to his knees, Bucky held his head in his hands. 

He wanted to find her and scream in her face, shake some goddamn sense into her, but “tracking her down”  _ wasn't  _ something he could do. When he had found her it was because he  _ had  _ followed her. Bucky had figured out pretty quickly that Alice was far too reliant on the extra abilities that she had to protect her. It was something that Bucky had wanted to teach her, to be more observant of the dangerous  _ people _ that were everywhere in this dimension.

Alice didn't even exist here, how could he find her? 

_ I would've done anything for you Alice. How could you leave me like this? _

Bucky shook his head. And yelled until his voice gave out.

 

~~~~~

 

Alice had found shelter at the docks. Holding the Scythe, she tried to draw on the power that she could usually sense from it, but…nothing.

Her chest felt empty. It's not that her heart felt broken or even that it felt shattered. Her heart wasn't even there anymore, she had left it in their flat.

Alice had taken the money and the orbs along with the Scythe, she would find somewhere to sell them as soon as possible. 

Alice had considered leaving what was left of the cash for Bucky, but some dark calculating part of her knew that if she kept it, it would seal another nail in the coffin of their relationship. Bucky needed reasons to stay away.

 

Alice's head pounded from the back of her neck all the way around her skull. A large part of her wanted to run back,  _ beg  _ him to forgive her, to understand why she had panicked. Alice would give anything for Bucky to turn up at any moment, scream at her and then hold her and  _ promise  _ that they could fix this together.

Alice needed him to stay away. 

_ Oh, I think he will. You betrayed him. You knew how he felt. The least you could've done was try and explain to him. Bucky was a master assassin, forced or not. He would know the best way to deal with this. But what does it matter? You're never going to see him again. _

The voice had changed back to the gender neutral sarcastic voice that it had been since the lab. Maggie's furious certainty hadn't made another appearance since Alice had fled.

 

Alice had been sat outside for hours, the sky had gone dark.

No one had seen her. No one had been looking.

 

Alice forced herself into a standing position. The being watched feeling had started to creep up on her.

Looking upward to the stars, Alice said a prayer to anyone,  _ anything  _ that might listen.

 

_ Please keep him safe. Please keep me safe so that I can get back to him. I will do my duty. But let me live afterwards. _

 

Alice Winters the Vampire Slayer dusted herself off and began her patrolling for the night. Her work came first. Everything else, every _ one  _ else had to come second. Alice had a vampire named Ethan to hunt.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry...  
> Read on in this story's sequel, Ricochet, to see what happens next.


End file.
